Washington Trails Association's Youth Volunteer Vacations

Throughout the month of August, the Washington Trails Association has hosted two Volunteer Vacations for youth from all around the West Coast. 
 


The group, before a game following their lunch break.
 

Through this program, the WTA provides an amazing experience for high school students aged 14-18 including camping and trails projects.  This year, both groups have been based out of the White River Campground and have been primarily focused on the Glacier Basin Trail, with other projects mixed in. 

For some, this was their first time ever stepping foot in Mount Rainier National Park, while for others, they grew up under the gaze of the mountain.  But, for all, they now have a special connection to the park through their hard work and determination while volunteering through the WTA.

NPLD: An updated project list

Have you signed up to attend National Public Lands Day and the Glacier Basin Trail rededication on Saturday, September 24? Lots of people have already done so, and it looks like it's going to be a great day of service! In case you forget the details, click here to read our original announcement, then RSVP as follows:

• All volunteers should send a note to Mariely Lemagne at NPCA at mlemagne@npca.org. You may also register in person on the day of the event, but signing up ahead of time will help us with planning.
   
• If you're planning to participate in the Washington Trails Association project (see the full list below), sign up on their website. Note that WTA will also be doing trail work on Friday the 23rd, and Sunday the 25th, so consider coming early or staying a day longer, and sign up for those dates too!
   
• We've set aside a block of campsites at White River for volunteers to use on Friday and/or Saturday night. To ensure that we have enough sites set aside, if you plan to camp, please RSVP to Kevin Bacher at Kevin_Bacher@nps.gov. A block of sites (probably in "A" loop) will be reserved for our use.

Meanwhile, here (subject to change) are the projects currently on the docket for September 24th:

Revegetation: Restoration specialist Will Arnesen will be leading a large team of volunteers in restoring the site of the former drive-in campground at Sunrise. He can take a nearly unlimited number of volunteers of all ages.

Trail maintenance: Several trails projects will be happening at White River and Sunrise. Each is limited to about 12 people. These projects are most appropriate for adults or older children:

• Wonderland Trail between White River and Sunrise, rebuilding turnpikes and tread repairs, two crews (Washington Trails Association and NPS).
• Wonderland Trail between White River and Sunrise, brushing, NPS crew.
• Sunrise Rim Trail, tread repair, NPS crew.
• Wonderland Trail between Frozen Lake and the Northern Loop Junction, tread repair, NPS crew.

One final note: The National Public Lands Day organization and REI are sponsoring a "Volunteers in Action" photo contest, with a grand prize REI camping package worth $600. Check out the details ahead of time if you plan to participate, and download the photo release form linked to their contest rules. Images from Mount Rainier have won in the past!

We look forward to seeing you at White River Campground at 9:00 a.m. on September 24!

Mount Rainier National Park Volunteer Newsletter: September 2011

It has been a busy summer here at Mount Rainier National Park and while the 2011 summer season may be winding down, there is still an array of volunteer opportunities happening due to the late season melt off. So be sure to mark your calendars and come enjoy what is shaping up to be an extended summer around here at Mount Rainier!

In the meantime, catch up on what we have been up to this past month with these headlines from the Mount Rainier National Park volunteer blog.

Mark Your Calendars: National Public Lands Day and Glacier Basin Trail Rededication on 9/24!
National Public Lands Day will be happening on Saturday, September 24th and we are pleased to announce that most the projects and celebration will occur on the East side of the park within the White River and Sunrise area. Special events and volunteer opportunities will include re-vegetation, trail maintenance projects along the Wonderland Trail, and a rededication ceremony for the now completed Glacier Basin Trail.

Student Conservation Association Crews are Hard at Work at Mount Rainier
SCA is a major partner of the National Park Service, and each year fields many individual interns and crews at Mount Rainier and other parks, who contribute thousands of hours of volunteer service in return for a small stipend and a fantastic summer experience. We've had a total of three Conservation Leadership Corps groups in the park this summer, funded by a grants from the Park Service's Youth Internship Program and the Student Conservation Association.

Japanese Volunteers Return for an 18th Year
Almost every year since 1993, students from Waseda University in Tokyo have been visiting Mount Rainier National Park through the Japan Volunteers-in-Parks Association (J-VIPA) to conduct volunteer projects. They typically stay for three weeks, live with host families in the local community, and get a lot of work done.

Keep up with current volunteer events, upcoming training opportunities, and the latest news by clicking on the calendar of activities at the top of this blog.

You will also find projects through the Washington Trails Association (WTA) and the Mount Rainier National Park Associates (MRNPA).


Washington Trails Association Projects

Contact WTA through their website for details and to register for these projects:

September 16, 17, & 18 – Wonderland Trail at Sunrise Trailhead
September 23, 24, & 25 – Wonderland Trail at White River Trailhead

Mount Rainier National Park Associates Projects

Contact MRNPA through their website for details and to register for these projects:

October 1 – Trail Maintenance at Carbon River

Event Volunteer Opportunities

September 24 – National Public Lands Day:

Every year on the last Saturday of September, Mount Rainier brings its summer volunteer program to a close with a massive volunteer day, offering volunteer opportunities throughout the park including trail maintenance and re-vegetation. This year’s event is taking shape on the east side of the park, with projects at Sunrise and White River. To learn more about these events please visit our blog or contact Kevin Bacher at (360) 569-6567 or kevin_bacher@nps.gov.

Group Projects

If you are a part of a group and/or organization that is looking for a project at the park we have several projects that require groups ranging in size from 5 to 100. Multi-day projects can use volunteers for a single day, or for several days at a stretch. Here are some options:
Native Plant Restoration:Our re-vegetation crews will be busy with drop in re-vegetation projects in the Sunrise are during the next two Saturdays (9/17 and 9/24).

Groups of almost unlimited size are welcome to help, either for single days or multiple day stretches. Contact Will Arnesen at 360-569-6762 to arrange a date for your group.

Individual Openings

Interested in volunteering for a longer period of time, or return regularly throughout the season to help with extended projects? We have many opportunities to choose from!

Follow these links for details and to apply for any project that interests you:

Meadow Rover: Help us protect the subalpine meadows above Paradise and Sunrise by patrolling trails and educating visitors about the importance of staying on trails.

Plant Propagation (Greenhouse Assistant): Help grow plants for transplanting in the subalpine meadows.

Citizen Science Team: Survey frogs, salamanders, and other species in the park's backcountry! Please note that Citizen Science projects have now ended for the 2011 season, please check back with us regarding future projects in spring 2012.

Resources

Besides the obvious benefits of volunteering at a National Park (time outdoors, meeting new people, sense of accomplishment), our volunteers get free entrance to the park on their days of service, as well as free use of the Longmire Campground (and the only campground showers within the park!).We are consistently updating our blog with all the latest information and opportunities to volunteer at Mount Rainier.

If you would like to get involved in any of the programs you have read about it this newsletter get in touch with either Patti Poulin (360.569.6588 or patricia_poulin@partner.nps.gov) or Kevin Bacher (360.569.6567 or kevin_bacher@nps.gov).

Thank you for supporting Mount Rainier National Park and we look forward to working with you!

Mark your calendars: National Public Lands Day and Glacier Basin Trail rededication on 9/24!

WTA volunteers

It's time again for Mount Rainier National Park's biggest volunteer event of the year! Mark your calendars now and plan to join us on Saturday, September 24 for a combination event. First, we'll be rededicating the Glacier Basin Trail, which volunteers and park partners have helped rebuild over the past three summers following its destruction in the November 2006 flood. Then, we'll disperse for a variety of volunteer projects, including more trail maintenance and a major revegetation effort at Sunrise. Finally, anyone who's interested will re-gather at the White River Campground for snacks and a more informal celebration and sharing of stories about the Glacier Basin Trail reconstruction.

SCA's Conservation Leadership Corps

2011 statistics aren't in yet, but from 2008 through 2010, volunteers and youth organizations like the Washington Conservation Corps and Student Conservation Association contributed 49,497 hours of time on the Glacier Basin Trail, an effort worth almost $1.06 million based on current figures from Independent Sector. The work has been done by National Park Service trail crews, partner groups, community groups, and hundreds of individuals who have worked on the project through the Washington Trails Association. WTA volunteers alone contributed about 15,000 hours of service over the three year period. The Student Conservation Association has fielded more than 8,000 hours of trail teams, national crews, and members of their Community Programs, made up of high school students mostly from the Seattle area.

NPCA's registration booth

Other key partners on the project have included Alpine Ascents International; Boy Scout Troops 224 and 436, as well as the Pacific Harbors Council and the T'kope Kwiswis Lodge 502 in Seattle; EarthCorps; the Mount Rainier National Park Associates; the Northwest Youth Corps; REI Adventures; and soldiers from the U.S.S. Henry M. Jackson. About 500 volunteers worked on the project each year (with a lot of overlap from year to year).

All volunteers who contributed to the Glacier Basin Trail reconstruction are invited to return for the rededication, and stay for National Public Lands Day!

Revegetation volunteers at Sunrise

The National Parks Conservation Association (NPCA) will be returning again this year to help coordinate National Public Lands Day. Volunteers can choose from several projects. The National Park Service and WTA will both be leading trail maintenance projects on sections of the Wonderland Trail departing from White River Campground. Meanwhile, at Sunrise, Mount Rainier's restoration team will lead volunteers in replanting the old Sunrise Campground with native plants. For either project, volunteers should bring a lunch, snacks, water, layered clothing that you can get dirty in, sunglasses, and sunscreen. Bring your own gloves if you have a pair that works well for you. All ages are welcome! Other projects may be added between now and September 24th as well.

Registration for National Public Lands Day will be hosted by NPCA at the Amphitheater in White River Campground. Volunteers may choose to stay overnight for free in the campground the night before September 24th and/or the night after. Please RSVP with your intentions (see details below). WTA will be working on the Wonderland Trail again on Sunday, September 25th.

Event Details

WHAT: National Public Lands Day and Glacier Basin Trail Rededication


WHEN: Saturday, September 24, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
8:00 a.m. Event Registration
9:00 a.m. Glacier Basin trail dedication
10:00 a.m. Trail and meadow restoration
3:30 p.m. Informal gathering and celebration
WHERE: All events take place at, or depart from, White River Campground at Mount Rainier National Park. Click here for a map and directions. Stevens Canyon Road will be closed to the public that day due to road construction. Please enter the park via Highway 410 or 123.

RSVP: If you plan to attend, please RSVP to Mariely Lemagne at NPCA at mlemagne@npca.org. If you plan to camp overnight, please RSVP with those plans to Kevin Bacher at Mount Rainier National Park at Kevin_Bacher@nps.gov. If you wish to join a WTA work crew on Saturday or Sunday, please also register online at http://www.wta.org/volunteer/trail-work-parties.

OTHER INFO: Entry to all national park units will be free on National Public Lands Day! Volunteers who register at White River Campground will receive a coupon for free entrance to Mount Rainier National Park on a future date of your choosing. Please bring work gloves and dress appropriately for the weather and activity. Suncreen, hats, and raincoats are recommended. You will also want to bring your lunch and a water bottle to stay hydrated.

We hope you will join us for the Glacier Basin Trail rededication and National Public Lands Day!

MRNPA Trail Work Party - June 11th

The next Mount Rainier National Park Associates trails work party will be on Saturday, June 11th. That's only a little over 2 weeks away!

At this time MRNPA does not yet know where they will be working. It will be either the Glacier Basin Trail above the White River Campground or again at the Boundary Trail at the Carbon River Entrance of Mt. Rainier National Park. The deciding factor will be the amount of snow on the Glacier Basin Trail. Volunteers will be informed as soon as John Titland, MRNPA's volunteer coordinator has a solid answer.

Either way the group will be meeting at 8:30 AM on Saturday morning and will be ready to move out by 9:00 AM. There will be a short hike to the work site. As always bring safety glasses, work gloves, your lunch, plenty of fluids to drink, and full rain gear. Also bring a safety helmet (a hard hat) if you have one.

If you plan to attend this June 11th trails work party, please email John at volunteer@mount-rainier.org to indicate that you are coming and how many volunteers other volunteers may be accompanying you. John needs an estimate of the number of volunteers to that Park staff can be sure to have enough tools for everyone.

There are safety equipment requirements for all MRNPA trail work volunteers. (These rules apply to all trail workers.) Anyone using an aggressive tool - like a Pulaski, ax, shovel, etc. - or anyone working near them - is required to wear a hard hat and safety glasses. People working with or near a less aggressive tools are not required (but will be encouraged) to wear a hard hat. If you own a hard hat that you can wear, please bring it. If you do not have a hard hat, we have hard hats that we loan for the day the day.

Wearing safety glasses is encouraged at all times. Because of cleanliness issues, some people don't like wearing safety glasses that have been worn by other people. For these reasons, and probably many others, please purchase (acquire, find, dig-up, whatever) a pair of personal safety glasses that you will wear. The local hardware store is a good place to start shopping. A serviceable pair or safety glasses will cost about $10. And be advised that shatterproof eye glasses do not meet the requirement for safety glasses. Safety glasses all have side protection which eyeglasses do not.

For more information regarding this working party or about MRNPA (Mt. Rainier National Park Associates) please visit http://mrnpa.org/.

A great National Public Lands Day at Mount Rainier!

You couldn't ask for better weather than we had at Mount Rainier National Park today for Nataional Public Lands Day! Preliminary estimates are that about 102 people turned out for three different volunteer projects in the park. I spent the day visiting each of the project areas in turn and taking pictures, a preliminary set of which is posted on my Flickr site and shown as a slide show above.

(For you camera buffs, I shot camera RAW, so the pictures will look a lot better once I've had a chance to tweak the exposure on them, hopefully Monday. But I wanted to give you a first look at all the great work that went on today!) Update 9/27: Done! The high quality, full-resolution photos are now posted.

Thirty-one people joined us on the Glacier Basin trail to continue its reconstruction. I was amazed at the amount of work that has occurred since my visit just a week ago. Eventually I'll post before and after photos so you can see what I'm talking about. The crew at Glacier Basin included members of the Washington Trails Association and the T'kope Kwiskwis Lodge of the Boy Scouts of America (who also had a number of members working on Forest Service land outside the park, which are not included in our total).

At Paradise, about 71 people worked to plant native plants around the lower parking lot. This is a project we began last year, and those plants look great, as if they'd been there for years rather than just one, so I look forward to seeing the plants put in today after they settle in to their new home! The group of volunteers at Paradise included members of a class from Evergreen State College, several volunteers from the Boeing Employee Association, and a number of volunteers recruited from their membership by the National Parks Conservation Association, as well as many members of the general public who learned about the volunteer day from their local newspapers. Many volunteers also returned after participated in National Public Lands Day last year.

Mid-afternoon, a contingent of Evergreen State College volunteers broke off from the main group and returned to Longmire to take down the platform tents in the Volunteer Campground in preparation for winter. The Evergreen students have been living in the campground for the past ten days, attending lectures under tarps in the rain, going on field trips, participating in seminars led by park scientists, and working on volunteer trail repair and planting projects, so it's fitting that they wrapped up their experience today by helping us with one final volunteer job.

Thank you, everyone, for an awesome day, and for your exceptional work in support of your national park!

Boy Scouts to join National Public Lands Day at Glacier Basin

From Bob Davies, at the T'Kope Kwiskwis Lodge of the Boy Scouts of America:

September 25, 2010 is National Public Lands Day, a day for people all over the country to give service to our nation’s public spaces. Close to home, local members of the Order of the Arrow will be hard at work in Mount Rainer National Park in observance of the nationwide movement.

The Order of the Arrow is the National Honor Society of the Boy Scouts of America. The local branch of the Order of the Arrow is T’Kope Kwiskwis Lodge, which serves King County and parts of the Olympic Peninsula. The organization is known nationally for its mission of community service and focus on outdoor adventure. Uniquely, the programs in the Order are planned and executed almost entirely by youth members.

Members of the Lodge will spend the weekend at Ranger Creek, on the north side of the mountain, an area especially in need of maintenance. “After storms in the winter of 2006, Mt. Rainier National Park was devastated” says Ian Bellows, Lodge Secretary and Logistics Chairman. “There’s been a lot of work done in and around the park, but there’s still plenty of work left do.” Planned activities for the weekend will include building trail and bridges, revegetation and slope stabilization, and invasive plant removal.

The project next weekend is in preparation for a massive service project in the summer of 2011, called ArrowCorps 502. “The goal of the project,” said Evan Skandalis, ArrowCorps 502 Chairman, “is to invite 502 Scouts, Scouters, and Arrowmen from all over the country to spend a week in Mt. Rainier National Park. It’s a great way to get people to ‘pay it forward’ and give back to one of our iconic National Parks.”

With the Boy Scouts of America’s increased focus on conservation and the Lodge’s mission of service, the project was “a perfect fit” for the 1000 member Lodge, according to Bellows. “We’re going to be a part of something that will make a real and lasting difference, and that’s a great feeling.”

A parade of volunteers on the Glacier Basin Trail

Student Conservation Association
members hiked the Glacier Basin
Trail to see the work done by their
volunteers and by other partners

Last week, I had the rare pleasure of taking a day out of the office, away from budgets and planning and e-mail, to see first-hand the work being done by our dedicated volunteers in the field. My hiking companions were a contingent from the Student Conservation Association, which has been a major partner of Mount Rainier for more than four decades, especially since the great floods of November 2006. SCA provides 12 week to 12 month interns in positions all over the park, from visitor services to research to trail maintenance to volunteer coordination. They also field high school crews for 15-day leadership training programs, several of which have contributed to the rebuilding of the Glacier Basin Trail.

Picking our way through a section
of trail yet to be rebuilt

We hiked all the way up to Glacier Basin, a seven mile round-trip. Along the way, we saw sections of trail that were completely obliterated by the 2006 floods. I remember responding to requests from the news media for pictures of this damaged trail, and being stymied by the fact that most of the "damaged" sections were so thoroughly wiped out that you couldn't tell a trail had ever been there, among the rocks, mud, logs, and other debris deposted by the flood.

Washington Conservation Corps at
work on the Glacier Basin Trail

We saw many of these sections of trail as we hiked along the Inter Fork of the White River--places where the old trail, below us, vanished into the river debris; and places where trail crews were still busy rerouting the trail to higher ground.

Your mission, should you choose to
accept it: turn this into a trail

Large stretches of the Glacier Basin Trail have been completely rebuilt higher up the side of the valley, to keep it out of the path of future floods. The trail is beautiful--in the words of Jay Satz, Regional Vice President of SCA, some of the best trail work he's ever seen. New trail bridges, rock walls, water bars, channels and culverts have all been installed to direct water flow. Crews are still working on some of the most challenging sections.

WTA volunteer working along the
Glacier Basin Trail

In addition to SCA, of course, many other partners have participated in the reconstruction of the Glacier Basin Trail. The Mount Rainier National Park Associates, several local Boy Scout troops, and other local volunteer groups have chipped in. The Washington Trails Association has, for two years now, coordinated public volunteer projects--including 496 people last summer (in 2009) alone. Only one WTA volunteer was on the trail the day we were there, but he was hard at work preparing a log for installation along the new route. We also encountered a crew from the Washington Conservation Corps, busy turning a steep, muddy slope perforated by seeps and springs into a world-class trail.

We finally reached our destination, at the base of the Emmons Glacier climbing route, in time to eat our lunch in a steady downpour: a typical autumn trail experience that did nothing to reduce the beauty of the setting or to dampen our enthusiasm for the work we'd seen along the trail.

Volunteers will continue working on the Glacier Basin Trail, alongside park trail crews, during this coming National Public Lands Day weekend. With their help, the rebuilt trail should finally be complete sometime early next spring. Thank you to everyone who helped to make this project happen! Your work will endure, providing access to the living heart of Mount Rainier National Park, for generations.

Volunteers will work on trails, planting at Mount Rainier on National Public Lands Day, September 25 – Entrance Fees to be Waived

September 21, 2010
For Immediate Release
Kevin Bacher, Volunteer and Outreach Program Manager
360-569-2211 ext. 3385, Kevin_Bacher@nps.gov

On National Public Lands Day, Saturday, September 25, 2010, more than a hundred volunteers will assemble at Mount Rainier National Park to plant native plants and work on completing repairs to the Glacier Basin Trail. Volunteers will also conduct general maintenance around the Longmire Volunteer Campground in preparation for winter. The work day will cap a highly successful season in which more than a thousand volunteers have contributed to the protection of Mount Rainier National Park’s natural and cultural treasures and helped serve its visitors.

Members of the public are invited to join in the day’s work. The National Parks Conservation Association, the Washington Trails Association, Evergreen State College, and the T’Kope Kwiskwis Lodge of the Boy Scouts of America will also participate.

National Public Lands Day is an annual celebration of public involvement in the stewardship of America’s national, state, and local parks and forests. More than 120,000 individuals are expected to participate in events all over the country. In recognition of this, entrance fees will be waived at all national parks for the day. Volunteers will receive an additional coupon for free admission on a day of their choice.

National Public Lands Day volunteers will register at the Longmire Museum, on the south side of Mount Rainier National Park, by 9:00 a.m. and then continue on to Paradise. Volunteers throughout the months of September and October have been helping park crews to plant 120,000 native plants on the site of the old Jackson Visitor Center, which was replaced in 2008. Meanwhile, at White River Campground, in the northeast corner of the park, volunteers will join crew leaders at 9:00 a.m. to rebuild sections of the Glacier Basin Trail that were damaged by flooding in November 2006.

Volunteers should come prepared for cool, wet weather, with warm clothing, rain gear, sturdy footwear, and gloves. If the weather is nice, sunglasses, sunscreen, and hats are recommended. Volunteers should also bring water, snacks, and a lunch.

A coalition of nonprofit organizations and corporations has supported volunteer efforts at Mount Rainier throughout the summer. The National Parks Conservation Association coordinates National Public Lands Day and leads efforts to increase public awareness and understanding of issues facing northwest parks. Washington Trails Association members and crew leaders have led projects at Glacier Basin and elsewhere. Student Conservation Association interns and crews serve as volunteer coordinators and on trail teams. Washington’s National Park Fund supports volunteer and outreach efforts through fundraising. Corporations including REI and Starbucks have contributed with both financial and on-the-ground volunteer support. Hundreds of individuals and dozens of groups have invested their time and sweat, in partnership with park employees, to build and patrol trails, assist and educate visitors, conduct citizen science research, plant native plants, provide roadside assistance to visitors, maintain backcountry campsites, and catalogue historic records. Last year, 1,865 volunteers contributed 72,231 hours of service at Mount Rainier, an effort valued at $1.5 million.

Information about Mount Rainier National Park’s volunteer program, including a list of open positions, a calendar of activities, and pictures and videos of volunteers in action may be found on Mount Rainier National Park’s website at www.nps.gov/mora, or on its volunteer program blog at rainiervolunteers.blogspot.com.

- NPS -

Congressman Reichert at Glacier Basin Trail

Washington's Congressman Dave Reichert made a special visit Monday to view the progress being made on the Glacier Basin Trail by over 498 different volunteers including the SCA group of high schoolers who were working during his visit. Reichert took the time to talk to each one of the SCA volunteers and extended his appreciation to all volunteers who have given their blood, sweat, and tears in efforts to promote the goals of the National Parks.

Glacier Basin Trail work featured in Seattle Times

Thanks to Lynn Kittridge for passing this link from the Seattle Times along highlighting the Glacier Basin Trail re-route and an extra special thanks for continuously logging long summer weekend hours volunteering on the trail!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2012398468_trail20m.html

Glacier Basin Reroute, Section 1, now open to public

The first section of the Glacier Basin Trail reroute has been completed and is now open to the public. This section of trail, approx. 1 mile in length, is an entirely new section of trail rerouted from a severely damaged section that occurred during the November flood event of 2006. A second secton of approx. 1500 ft. is currently being worked on which, when finished, will complete the Glacier Basin Trail reroute project that has been ongoing for 3 years. The park trail crew along with many, many groups of volunteers and contract trail workers from area corporations such as REI, civic groups, Scouts, Washington Trails Association, Student Conservation Association, Washington Conservation Corps, to name a few, have been working on this major reroute which is the largest trails project the park has seen in recent years.

The crews have done a spectacular job on this first section, building the trail through very rough, rocky terrain in some steep areas. First accounts of those who have a had a chance to walk this section of trail have expressed how much improved this section of trail is in terms of safety, grade, views, and walking surface. This reroute has been funded largely through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). The park is anticiapting the late summer/early fall that a public event will be held to acknowledge the grand reopening of the Glacier Basin Trail along with the projected reopening of the Sunrise Visitor Center, which will be getting all new exhibits and having its floor refinished this summer. Stay tuned...

In the meantime, go try out the new section of the Glacier Basin Trail!

Deputy Supt. Randy King test drives one of the bridges on the new Glacier Basin Trail reroute.

Glacier Basin Trail

This past weekend a lot of hard work was put into the new Glacier Basin Trail. All summer long the WTA and other groups will be focusing their volunteer efforts on rebuilding this popular trail after the flooding in 2006.

Thanks to everyone who came out last weekend! If you're interested joining a Trail Work Party at Glacier Basin you can sign up with the WTA or contact me, Evan Escamilla at evan_escamilla@partner.nps.gov or (360) 569-2211 ext. 3312.

June 5th is National Trails Day!

American Hiking Society's signature trail awareness program, National Trails Day (NTD), inspires the public and trail enthusiasts nationwide to seek out their favorite trails to discover, learn about, and celebrate the 200,000+ miles of outdoor trails in our country.

Mount Rainier's many trails provide access to the natural world for recreation, inspiration and education. Trails provide opportunities to breathe fresh air, get hearts pumping, escape from daily stresses and maintain overall health. NTD represents years of hard work, dedication and countless volunteer hours contributed by individuals, nonprofit groups and community organizations across America. During last year's NTD 2009 nationwide volunteers contributed nearly 180,000 volunteer labor hours to our nation’s trails, worth an estimated $3.6 million.

Here at Mount Rainier we have several projects taking place on NTD.

Washington Trails Association
For those looking to spend some time specifically on the trails the WTA is planning on working at Glacier Basin Trail. The Glacier Basin Trail sustained extensive damage during the storms of November 2006. Volunteers have spent the last three summers helping the park relocate the trail away from the river and on to the hillside. We still need your help to complete this approximately 2-mile relocation, which will include fun new trail construction tasks!

Longmire Campground Cleanup

We are looking for volunteers to help get our Volunteer Campground ready for the summer season. Anyone interested can meet at the Longmire community building at 9:30am on June 5th.

To join this work party click here.

REI of Tacoma - *Closed to the public
This group will be joining us on NTD to work at Kautz and Twin Firs Trail. If your company or group is interested in volunteering together we will have more opportunities throughout the summer. Give us a call and we'll set up a project for you!

Planning for National Trails Day

National Trails Day is June 5, 2010. As that date approaches, several projects are beginning to take shape. Pencil these into your calendar, and watch for details, coming soon on this blog!

Glacier Basin Trail Construction: Our major "Trail" project will be on the Glacier Basin Trail under the direction of our partner, the Washington Trails Association. This project isn't on WTA's project calendar yet, but it's being planned, and will be one of the major kickoff events for this year's trail volunteer program.

Longmire Campground Opening: Utilities are tentatively scheduled to be turned on in the Longmire Volunteer Campground about May 22nd. We're working on final arrangements to hire a pair of campground hosts who would begin about that time, and who could use some assistance, off and on through the week, in getting winter storm debris picked up and the bath house cleaned and ready for volunteers to use. On June 5, we'll tip the plywood platforms down onto their foundations and set up our collection of wall tents. Unlike last year, there shouldn't be any snow to shovel first in order to make that happen!

Picnic Table Relocation: A long-term goal for the Longmire Campground has been to install historic-style picnic tables (the heavy "half-round" log style common throughout the park) in the campground's 32 sites. Funding for this project, and for installation of additional concrete grills, has been hard to come by; but a solution has finally been approved (one first suggested by a volunteer a year ago): Dig out the picnic tables buried in silt at Sunshine Point, and move them to Longmire. This will be a major project, involving digging, carrying, transport, and probably disassembly and reassembly.

Signing up: As soon as WTA posts its National Trails Day event, volunteers can sign up through their website. Watch this blog for details of how to register, as an individual, for events at Longmire, which will be posted as soon as we work out the logistics of our projects. Groups should call me to express their interest, at 360-569-2211 ext. 3385, with information about approximately how many people to expect.

WTA Volunteers forge ahead at Glacier Basin

"Although much of the Glacier Basin Trail reroute at Mount Rainier National Park has been completed, it won’t be until next season that the work is finally done."

Thus begins a nice article in the News Tribune yesterday, which properly attributes much of the work that has been done on this major flood recovery project to volunteers who have worked in partnership with the National Park Service and the Washington Trails Association.

WTA's efforts have been a major asset at Mount Rainier over the past three years, especially on the Glacier Basin project. Our records show 496 WTA volunteers in the park this summer, who contributed 5,292 hours of service, not counting travel time. Both of those are record numbers: even in 2007, the year following our big flood, WTA's work totalled a mere 4,971 hours; and last year, the previous record year for volunteer participation, only 336 volunteers participated.

We're still compiling the final numbers for our program this year, but there's no question that WTA will be responsible for a large percentage of our total volunteer hours, and an even larger percentage of our total numbers.

WTA's efforts are made possible, of course, by hundreds of individual volunteers; but they are also supported by major grants from Boeing Corporation, which has committed $60,000 to WTA in 2010. Their support is also invaluable! (Individual donations are also welcome.)

We look forward to continuing these productive partnerships at least through 2010, so keep an eye on the WTA website next spring to find more opportunities to participate. There are few things more rewarding that building a trail that will be used for generations to come!

Season-in-Review: WTA Crew Forge New Trail

Kevin passed this article along to me, and o-man, is it deserved. The Washington Trails Association has had work parties in the park (this is a rough estimate) nearly every week for the past four months. Often time it has been the same dedicated individuals coming back time and time again to work. We're talking about super volunteers here. So read on friends, and be amazed at how much work was done.

WTA Crews Forge New Trail for Climbers and Families at Mount Rainier

As the summer hiking season has come to a close, so too have some of our summer season's trail projects. In September, WTA trail crews wrapped up a summer of hard work on our single biggest project of the year, the Glacier Basin Trail reroute at Mount Rainier National Park.

Is the project completed? Not quite. About 5,000 feet of new trail has been constructed, a stretch that lies directly uphill from the stretch of trail that was heavily damaged in the now historic flooding of late 2006. Since the project began in 2008, WTA has hosted more than 68 work parties with over 186 individual volunteers contributing more than 7,000 hours of manual labor. These volunteers experience all that goes in to building new trail: clearing the corridor of blowdown and duff (organic material), removing stumps and rocks, constructing structures such as rock walls and fords - ultimately creating a solid and sustainable tread. WTA's involvement in the Glacier Basin reroute was made possible in part by a generous grant from The Boeing Company and financial contributions from hikers like you.

Hikers have not been introduced to this new route yet; the ends were intentionally left unfinished, and will be knitted together with the existing trail early next season. You are still welcome to visit the Glacier Basin Trail, however-- a temporary path has been sketched out near the riverbed in the floodplain (see this August 13 trip report for details.)

According to Carl Fabiani, Mount Rainier National Park's trail programs coordinator, a full season of work lies ahead before we can call this project done. "This fall, we have a lot of rock to remove." Blasting operations began the week after Labor Day. "Next year, another 2,000 feet of new trail will be built." In all, the Glacier Basin reroute involves a mile and a half of new trail construction.

You can also help by making a financial contribution to WTA. Give now to support the Glacier Basin reroute and dozens of other trail projects this fall.

Truly magnificent. 7,000 hour and 5,000 feet is no small feat (pun intended). Seriously though, a round of applause for the WTA.

At Mount Rainier National Park, it's groups like the WTA who form a solid backbone for our volunteer program. Groups that come back year after year, whose ability to work independently and proven track record mean that they get the job done quickly and efficiently, these are the groups we rely on most of all. Working with the WTA, Carl can rest assured that a major project will be handled, letting his crew fix everything else in the park. If we didn't have the WTA to work with, I question whether projects could be done in the time they're done now. So lets be thankful we have organization like the WTA to work with.

And if you're ever interested, I encourage you to join the WTA on a work party or two. See what you think, and more likely than not you'll be hooked.

I'll meet you on the trail,

Nick

9/11 National Day of Service and Remembrance

From Serve.gov (also known as Volunteer.gov):

This year we commemorate the first September 11 National Day of Service and Remembrance. The tragic events of September 11, 2001 inspired Americans to come together in a remarkable spirit of unity and compassion. It was a stark reminder that our fate as individuals is inherently tied to the fate of our nation. Eight years later, September 11 continues to evoke strong emotion and is an homage to sacrifice and a call to action.

In April, President Obama signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act which, for the first time, officially recognizes September 11 as a National Day of Service and Remembrance. This year, on September 11, the President, the Corporation for National and Community Service, MyGoodDeed and the 9/11 families will ask all Americans to remember that Tuesday eight years ago and recommit to service in their communities throughout the year. We encourage you to continue to promote service by commemorating this milestone through the United We Serve initiative.

Mount Rainier National Park does not have any public projects on the calendar for September 11. However, consider joining the Mount Rainier National Park Associates and the Washington Trails Association the following day to help rebuild the Glacier Basin Trail. In addition, you can find dozens of projects in your area to help with, both on the Serve.gov website and on that of its partner organization, Service Nation. Please consider finding some way to help: if not here, then somewhere in your community. Thanks!

Mount Rainier National Park Associates plans final projects of 2009

On Saturday, September 12th MRNPA will conduct our last trails work party for this year. We will again be working on the reroute section of the Glacier Basin Trail. The building of this new section of trail still a priority. The work that has been done looks great. But, there is still plenty to be done and this new section of the trail probably will not be completed until the summer of 2011.

We will meet at the White River Campground parking lot at 8:30 AM on Saturday morning, and be ready to move out at 9:00 AM.

Bring work gloves, safety glasses, full rain gear (you never know if you will need it), your lunch, and plenty of fluids to drink. Also bring a hard hat if you have one.

On Saturday, September 26th MRNPA will be assisting Will Arneson and his Restoration Crew in planting of alpine meadow plants at the site where the old Jackson Visitors Center once stood at Paradise. Will Arneson and his crews will be working at this site on September 19th, 20th, 26th, 27th, and August 3rd and 4th. They would appreciate volunteers coming to assist them on any of these days, but MRNPA will be conducting our scheduled work party only on September 26th. [Editor's note: this is also National Public Lands Day.]

On Saturday, September 26th , the MRNPA volunteers will meet in the Paradise upper parking lot, near the new Jackson Visitors Center, at between 8:30 and 9:00 AM. We will work until at least 3:00 PM. Please find Rose or Allan Evans and sign in. The NPS needs to know the names and hours worked of all volunteers who participate - so please sign out with Allan or Rose when you leave too.

Bring your lunch, plenty of fluids to drink, and your favorite gardening gloves. Heavy leather work gloves are too clumsy. The thin gloves with rubber palms and fingers work great. We will be planting seedlings that are at times tiny, so clumsy gloves are not good.

Also consider bringing your favorite garden trowel or small digging tool and a knee pad. You will be on your hands and knees all day, so protecting your knees and keeping them dry really helps you enjoy the day. The NPS does have trowels you can use if you don't bring your own.

And of course, bring your sun hat, sun screen lotion, and a full set of rain gear. The weather at Paradise in September can be anything from a glorious autumn day to a cold and wet preliminary to winter.

Volunteers are welcome to camp in the Longmire Campground for free either the night before or the night after their volunteer service, or both. Please contact Kevin_Bacher@nps.gov, or Nick at Nicholas_Abel@partner.nps.gov, or call them at 360-569-2211 ext. 3385, if you'd like to reserve a site. Sites will also be available on a first-come, first-served basis, but you'll get the best selection if you call ahead.

If you plan on attending either the Saturday, September 12th, MRNPA trails work party at White River or the Saturday, September 26th planting work party at Paradise please write to the Mount Rainier National Park Associates at volunteer@mount-rainier.org indicating that you are coming and the number of volunteers you are bringing with you.

John Titland
Volunteer Coordinator
Mount Rainier National Park Associates

Making a Difference on National Trails Day

For another perspective on the Washington Trails Association's participation in National Trails Day, including another great photo of volunteers at Mount Rainier, check out the Signpost blog on the WTA website.