Volunteers needed to review pocket guide and collect weather data

Two unique volunteer projects have come across my desk today:

Mount Rainier Pocket Guide
Damian Fagan, a freelance author in Bend, Oregon working with the Globe Pequot Press contacted me looking for someone who could review the text of a "Pocket Guide" he's putting together about Mount Rainier National Park. He suggested that maybe some of our volunteers could look it over and proofread it. I think that's a great idea, so I'm passing the project on to you. Here's a link to the DRAFT text of the guide. Download it, look it over, and then send any feedback or corrections you have to me. I'll compile the responses and send them on to Mr. Fagan. Please respond by February 17 if possible. Here's the complete request:

I am a freelance writer working on a project for the Globe Pequot Press about Mount Rainier. GPP is publishing a series of small guides to national parks called "Pocket Guides." About the size of the old Golden Guide natural history books, these introductory books will have 2 oragami-like maps in the front and rear pockets of the book; hence, their name. Patti Wold [our Interpretive Media Specialist] has taken a look at the text and I've made changes based upon her recommendations. I'm writing to you to see if there might be a volunteer who would be interested in taking a more in-depth review of the text. I don't think it would take too long, and I would appreciate any feedback. As a small 'thank you' the reviewers name would be included in the text and I'd make sure that they receive a copy when the book is out. They could make electronic edits and just e-mail the text back to me. I've attached the text so that you can see the length and format. You'll see in the text that there are hours listed for visitor centers, as well as program times and locations. Changes are inevitable and the caveat in the text is for visitors to "Check for current times and locations." Still, I'd like to be able to include current programs the park offers.

For those who contribute, be sure to keep track of the time you spend, and send that to me for tracking in our volunteer database.

Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network
I also got an e-mail today from Greg Carstens, passing on a request from the National Weather Service for volunteer weather monitors in the communities around Mount Rainier National Park. Specifically, they want to monitor and study precipitation patterns, in order to improve their ability to predict and respond to flood events. If you're interested in participating in the study, send me an e-mail, and I'll pass the word along to Greg and his contact at the Weather Service. Here is Greg's original request, with more detail about what he's looking for:

Me and Ted Buehner [at NWS Seattle] need some help with a local weather project in and outside the park. Ted has asked me to see if anyone in the park is interested in helping out with this project inside the park as well as outside of the park. He knows like I do that some who work in the park also live right outside of it. Ted Buehner and Jeff Michalski are looking for volunteers interested in measuring local rainfall. This program called the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network will not cost the park itself one penny. That's the best part about it. It does require the volunteer to buy the standard 8 inch manual rain gauge which costs around $30.00. The National Weather Service and University of Washington Office of the State Climatologist sponsor the program. Jeff Michalski at NWS Seattle is the coordinator for the Mount Rainier and surrounding area for the Network. Ted has told me more than once it would be great if we could find at least a few volunteers who perhaps live in or around the communities of Ashford, Elbe, Mineral, Morton, Eatonville, Randle, and Packwood. The Network helps researchers and scientists monitor and study precipitation patterns and it also has a online intense precipitation report that goes immediately to the NWS Seattle office after it is reported. This feature is great to get a handle on flooding events. The website for the Network which originated at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado is www.cocorahs.org... Ted and Jeff would like to see more volunteers from the Cascade foothills so I told Ted I would write to you to see if we could help in at least some small way. I think the more volunteers in the area there are the better the NWS will have a fix on getting forecasts out for severe flooding. This is one way folks can help out their local community to say safe from severe flooding.

Longmire SCA Intern Greg Carstens wins award from Americorps

From guest blogger Greg Carstens:

Hi Everyone,

Well, the summer is basically done for me but I do look for a few fall hours out there and I can hardly wait until the new Jackson Visitors Center is open. Ironically the center will be opening on October 10th just one day before my birthday. I really have to wonder if some of the folks doing the planning knew about that date because I know I did mention it to Darin Swinney the park's GIS specialist at Longmire at least once. It could be possible I guess that he relayed that information to Dave Uberuaga. Well, maybe. No matter what happens in my future I look forward to continuing to serve the National Park Service out of the new building.

Ok as you all pretty much know by now or have heard over the summer at one time or another, I was a natural resources planning intern at Longmire under the direct supervision of Darin Swinney. This program was originally assigned to me through the Student Conservation Association. Within this program I had a chance to do something really special for the park and a great chance to be rewarded by an outstanding organization called Americorps. At the beginning of the season I was told I had to not only finish my project but also had to total 450 hours of service. I finished with 476 hours and all total for this year in the park I racked up 532 hours and lifetime so far I am at 626 which includes service at Yellowstone National Park. By August 31st. it was all pretty academic and the other day I received a confirmation from the Student Conservation Association that I will receive me award of $1,280.00 which will enable me to pay for a whole quarter of tuition at Pierce College. Nice huh? My Mom's eyes really lit up when I told her that I will receive this award.

For a few years now I wanted to make a impact within the park and perhaps begin a little bit of legacy. I still remember telling Kevin Bacher how I wanted to just obliterate my hours total I had last year in 2007. Yes I did that. I also helped out putting together some data that was much needed for Darin Swinney. I still had time to meadow rove for Kevin Bacher and also I made a great impression on Julia Pinnix as well as helped out a long time friend once again who was one of my high school teachers in the past. Thank you Jim Ross for giving me chance to work at the fair again this year.

In closing I will say this. For several years I had many who were skeptics in what I could or could not do but my true to belief in my heart is if you have the passion to build a goal it is likely you will achieve it especially if that passion is strong. Never let anyone tell you that can not do something if you never had a chance to do it.

Thanks for a great summer everyone and I hope to see you this fall.

Greg Carstens
SCA Natural Resources Planning Intern
VIP Paradise Meadow Rover and at Ohanapecosh Visitors Center

A Meadow Rover's Short Story from the Heart

Submitted by Greg Carstens, Paradise Meadow Rover

I have come a long way since 2006 when I first looked into the Meadow Roving program at Mount Rainier. A lot sure has happened since that day when I first met Kevin Bacher in July of 2006. I am forever grateful to him and many other park staff to this day all the way up to Superintendent Uberauga for giving me a chance to help the park in any way I can.

Many of you do not know my background and there are still many of you I have yet to meet and shake hands with personally. I was happy to finally meet Pete Sabin yesterday at the meadow rover training because I have heard and read about this man and how he has been involved so much with park for quite some time.

Back in 2005 I was working fulltime for Horizon Air on the Seatac ramp servicing aircraft. I did this until October of 2006. Unfortunately I damaged my left leg severely and it made it very hard to walk on by September of 2006. It was discovered in 2007 by Doctor Robert Osborne in Puyallup at Cascade Vascular Associates that I have an incurable disease known as lymph edema. It's not contagious at all but it is common across the world. It basically is build up fluid in the lymph nodes which makes the limbs swell which can sometimes be uncomfortable. Fortunately I am still able to walk and enjoy the park in any way. I just can't bang the leg on anything or put it in harms way so some trail work and perhaps a lot of the work the trail crews do might be out of the question but I did talk to Jill Baum with the SCA and she said I would probably be able to do some raking and that sort of thing. Generally anything not to heavy. I agreed with her on that.

In 2006 of May my Step Father Robert J. Eckroth died of liver cancer. This man worked in public service as a firefighter from 1965 to 1995 for the Tacoma Fire Department. After he died I wanted to change my life and go into another direction and also follow in his foot steps sort of. I knew that with the leg the way it was I would not be a firefighter like he was and age was probably at the time an issue also. There was another option though and that was to begin looking at agencies like the National Park Service that I always had interest in but it was usually in the back of my mind but always my heart made me wonder. What if?

Now I am exploring all the possibilities with the National Park Service as I currently intern at Longmire in the Natural and Cultural Resources Division. A division in the National Park Service I had never even known about until this summer. I will forever be grateful to my Supervisor Darin Swinney for calling me back in April and asking me if I was still interested in working with him. The answer was of course a resounding, yes! I do have Rick Zamore to thank as well with the SCA also.

This is my third summer in the meadow rover program at Mount Rainier. I sign up for it because I simply care about the park. It helps that the park is only 45 miles from home also. I love all the parks I have been to. I volunteered for a short time at the Old Faithful Visitors Center in 1985 at Yellowstone National Park. I have also spent some brief time in Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Olympic, Crater Lake, and North Cascades as a visitor as well.

One thing I love more than even all the parks and probably anything in the world though is my Mother. She really did well since May of 2006 but I remember her telling me how she cried after my Step Dad died when she went to trim the plants in the many gardens he left behind that had some of the most beautiful flowers you will ever see.

I am hear to tell you all right now I spent nights myself crying as I worried so much about her becoming lonely after being married to my Step Father for 36 years. It hurt me as well because he was the only real father I ever had from the time I was five years old. To this day I still visit my mother twice a week and I take care of a lot of those flowers for her in the yard. The flowers continue to grow more beautiful than ever under my care. I had many rhododendrons bloom out to about twelve inches across this spring. When I saw this I knew I had a true knack for caring for natural things and when the flowers grew so well I got a little emotional because I know my Step Father in spirit must have showed me what to do when I tried to take care of them for the first time.

My mother is doing a lot better these days. She has met a retired school councilor from Olympia and he has told her that he loves her and they have already been to Hawaii together and are planning more trips together including the Inside Passage to Alaska. I am a little envious and would love to travel in both those places and who knows maybe one day I will work in one of our parks in those areas one day.

I plan on building up my college credits this fall, winter, and spring coming quarters at Pierce College. I should have about 60 overall and will have some where over 500 hours of service time alone just this year in the park. Right now I am working on getting a Associates transfer degree for a major university and my ultimate goal is to get a Bachelor of Science degree in Atmospheric Science (Meteorology). Short term at least by next summer I hope to apply as one of the many of the many seasonal staff with the National Park Service and I am very open to going to many parks that would have an opportunity for me for my first summer. It would be incredible and great to be at Mount Rainier though.

I hope you all enjoyed this story because it is from my heart and how I feel right now. I am hoping that everyone will have a awesome summer as I am already having this summer at Mount Rainier.

Greg Carstens
SCA Natural Resources Planning Intern
Paradise Meadow Rover
Mount Rainier National Park

A Meadow Rover's Short Story from the Heart

Submitted by Greg Carstens, Paradise Meadow Rover and Student Conservation Association Intern

I have come a long way since 2006 when I first looked into the Meadow Roving program at Mount Rainier. A lot sure has happened since that day when I first met Kevin Bacher in July of 2006. I am forever grateful to him and many other park staff to this day all the way up to Superintendent Uberauga for giving me a chance to help the park in any way I can.

Many of you do not know my background and there are still many of you I have yet to meet and shake hands with personally. I was happy to finally meet Pete Sabin yesterday at the meadow rover training because I have heard and read about this man and how he has been involved so much with park for quite some time.

Back in 2005 I was working fulltime for Horizon Air on the Seatac ramp servicing aircraft. I did this until October of 2006. Unfortunately I damaged my left leg severely and it made it very hard to walk on by September of 2006. It was discovered in 2007 by Doctor Robert Osborne in Puyallup at Cascade Vascular Associates that I have an incurable disease known as lymph edema. It's not contagious at all but it is common across the world. It basically is build up fluid in the lymph nodes which makes the limbs swell which can sometimes be uncomfortable. Fortunately I am still able to walk and enjoy the park in any way. I just can't bang the leg on anything or put it in harms way so some trail work and perhaps a lot of the work the trail crews do might be out of the question but I did talk to Jill Baum with the SCA and she said I would probably be able to do some raking and that sort of thing. Generally anything not to heavy. I agreed with her on that.

In 2006 of May my Step Father Robert J. Eckroth died of liver cancer. This man worked in public service as a firefighter from 1965 to 1995 for the Tacoma Fire Department. After he died I wanted to change my life and go into another direction and also follow in his foot steps sort of. I knew that with the leg the way it was I would not be a firefighter like he was and age was probably at the time an issue also. There was another option though and that was to begin looking at agencies like the National Park Service that I always had interest in but it was usually in the back of my mind but always my heart made me wonder. What if?

Now I am exploring all the possibilities with the National Park Service as I currently intern at Longmire in the Natural and Cultural Resources Division. A division in the National Park Service I had never even known about until this summer. I will forever be grateful to my Supervisor Darin Swinney for calling me back in April and asking me if I was still interested in working with him. The answer was of course a resounding, yes! I do have Rick Zamore to thank as well with the SCA also.

This is my third summer in the meadow rover program at Mount Rainier. I sign up for it because I simply care about the park. It helps that the park is only 45 miles from home also. I love all the parks I have been to. I volunteered for a short time at the Old Faithful Visitors Center in 1985 at Yellowstone National Park. I have also spent some brief time in Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Grand Teton, Olympic, Crater Lake, and North Cascades as a visitor as well.
One thing I love more than even all the parks and probably anything in the world though is my Mother. She really did well since May of 2006 but I remember her telling me how she cried after my Step Dad died when she went to trim the plants in the many gardens he left behind that had some of the most beautiful flowers you will ever see.

I am here to tell you all right now I spent nights myself crying as I worried so much about her becoming lonely after being married to my Step Father for 36 years. It hurt me as well because he was the only real father I ever had from the time I was five years old. To this day I still visit my mother twice a week and I take care of a lot of those flowers for her in the yard. The flowers continue to grow more beautiful than ever under my care. I had many rhododendrons bloom out to about twelve inches across this spring. When I saw this I knew I had a true knack for caring for natural things and when the flowers grew so well I got a little emotional because I know my Step Father in spirit must have showed me what to do when I tried to take care of them for the first time.

My mother is doing a lot better these days. She has met a retired school councilor from Olympia and he has told her that he loves her and they have already been to Hawaii together and are planning more trips together including the Inside Passage to Alaska. I am a little envious and would love to travel in both those places and who knows maybe one day I will work in one of our parks in those areas one day.

I plan on building up my college credits this fall, winter, and spring coming quarters at Pierce College. I should have about 60 overall and will have some where over 500 hours of service time alone just this year in the park. Right now I am working on getting a Associates transfer degree for a major university and my ultimate goal is to get a Bachelor of Science degree in Atmospheric Science (Meteorology). Short term at least by next summer I hope to apply as one of the many of the many seasonal staff with the National Park Service and I am very open to going to many parks that would have an opportunity for me for my first summer. It would be incredible and great to be at Mount Rainier though.

I hope you all enjoyed this story because it is from my heart and how I feel right now. I am hoping that everyone will have a awesome summer as I am already having this summer at Mount Rainier.

Greg Carstens
SCA Natural Resources Planning Intern
Paradise Meadow Rover
Mount Rainier National Park

Another day in Paradise

From Greg Carstens, Paradise Meadow Rover:

It is always totally amazing what comes up, when I make my way on the trails at Paradise. On August 23rd I worked a grand total of 3 hours and meadow roved from Nisqually Vista to Myrtle Falls.

I always say to everyone I am partial to the Nisqually Vista trail because of my deep interest in meteorology and the fact that the Paradise Weather Station is also on this trail, but it always allows me to express my deep love of that science to many visitors in the park as well. Yesterday was no different. I met some nice ladies at the Vista Point from London and explained and taught them a little bit about glaciology without trying to be too technical. They were totally amazed about my knowledge of glaciers and climate. I told them also that I always try to make it down the Vista trail to check the glacier's current position and also the amount of snow on the ground when there is snow at the weather station.

A little after that I went back up the trail and looked at things in miniature. I noticed colorful butterflies and also the many tadpoles in the pond on the Vista Trail. I looked all around me and noticed that the flower season seemed to have peaked. I was a little dismayed that I had missed many lupines this year which will always be my favorite flower on The Mountain.

After making a stop at the Jackson Visitor Center I returned to the trail to Myrtle Falls. I hiked a bit further up and didn't see really any problems or great concerns in the Golden Gate Cirque below the Skyline Trail so I headed back to the falls and noticed a man leaving the bridge and by the time I got there noticed he was standing nearly at the top of the waterfall. I did not hesitate to get his attention and bring him back onto the bridge with me to tell him it was very dangerous to be standing where he was. I then told him how he could see more waterfalls in the park but also made him realize that there were many unfortunate mishaps in the past in the park when leaving the trail like he did just to get what some think might be a better perspective. All in all, I had no idea what the man was thinking and he seemed to have a adventurous spirit but I probably also saved the rangers probably from doing a recovery effort of some sort as well.

I returned toward the Jackson Visitor Center and made my way along the Waterfall trail and met a man with his daughter as I was headed back. This man told me that he had skied at Paradise before World War II. I am always totally fascinated to meet seniors who have been coming to Mount Rainier for many years because sometimes they are willing to share some of their own history that may not be written into any Park records. I find this kind of information so invaluable.

Once I had returned to the Jackson Visitor Center I saw it was still only 3:30 PM and figured oh what the heck, one more short walk up the Dead Horse Creek Trail. Oh was I sure glad I did this. I was not but probably 50 feet onto the Dead Horse Creek Trail when I noticed a couple of nice ladies sun bathing with a blanket spread out next to a rock and smashing down countless grasses and young huckleberry plants. They were a little surprised to see me, but I also smiled and said, "Ladies? I need to speak with a few moments. I need to let you know that off-trail meadow sun bathing does not help the plants grow in their short 3-month growing season up here." They quickly got up and moved and said they were sorry. I said "That's ok, that is what I am here for. To teach and let everyone know why it is so important to stay on the trails." I said, "There are also many small log benches along the trail as well if you want to sit and read and take in The Mountain as well," and told them "Have a great day and I appreciate your cooperation." After this I headed a little further up the trail and noticed a log out of place next to the creek. It was standing straight up like someone picked it up and stood it next to the culvert. I took this log and place it over an area next to the trail where a social trail had been well established. After this I headed back and my day was basically done after just three hours.

All in all I made about 25 contacts in just 3 hours and was a really big help to all the staff in the park. I always feel so rewarded for my efforts, and usually, like I did on this day, I stopped at National Park Inn for a bite to eat and thought while I was there how satisfied I felt after being able to help out in a big way in just a short time.

Just another day in Paradise.