The MRNPA crew have good cause to be smiling. They just finished up installing a new puncheon bridge on the Lake Tipsoo loop trail! The MRNPA holds numerous work parties to keep the trails in shape in Mount Rainier National Park. If you'd like more information, contact John Titland at volunteer(at)mrnpa.org.
From John Titland:
The next Mount Rainier National Park Associates volunteer work party will be Saturday, July 16th. This will be the annual Mount Rainier National Park Associates Exotic Plant Removal work party, which we refer to as the "deveg". We will be working at the site of the new Carbon River Ranger Station, and the Marsh Property, both located a few miles west of the Carbon River Entrance of the park on the Carbon River Road. The ranger station occupies a building that was formerly identified as the Carbon River Ranch. The area is still referred to as the Thompson property. The property extends all the way from the road down to the Carbon River.
To participate in the Exotic Plant Removal work party there is no need to know about native plants. The NPS crew members we will work with will teach you which plants to remove, and they will be able to identify for you all the native plants in the area. There will be no heavy tools (like shovels and pulaskis) to carry and use. Safety helmets are not required.
Things you should bring are work gloves, a small digging tool like a hand trowel, or your favorite weed removing tool, your lunch, plenty of fluids to drink, and a full set of rain gear. A warm jacket would be good to include.
We will meet between 8:30 and 9:00 AM in front of the ranger station. Be ready to go to work by about 9:00 AM and expect to finish about 3:00 PM. If you plan to attend this work party, please reply to this email indicating that you are coming and give me the number of volunteers you expect to accompany you. I need an estimate of the number of volunteers who will attend.
A second MRNPA volunteer work party in July
In the advanced stages of planning is a potential MRNPA volunteer trails work party on Saturday, July 30th at Lake Tipsoo at Chinook Pass. The project would be to remove and replace one of the foot bridges on the path around the lake. Howard Selmer, the seasonal ranger at Lake Tipsoo, tells me that it would be a good day to wear rubber boots or an old pair if tennis shoes because wading in the water will likely be involved. Sounds like a fun project! And the work site is only a few paces from the parking lot . But that has a down side too. Saturdays in July can be pandemonium at Lake Tipsoo. We may need as many volunteers to assist Howard in crowd control as we need volunteers to work on the bridge.
Part of the uncertainty of this project is - on such short notice can we assemble a big enough MRNPA crew to do the whole job in one day?
If you are interested in participating in this project and really do think you can attend on July 30th, please reply to this email to tell me you can come and if you can bring additional volunteers with you. This really is a case where I need to know now how many MRNPA volunteers will be coming.
Received the following message from our amphibian biologist - Scott Anderson:
I checked Tipsoo lake a couple days ago and Western Toad tadpoles are just beginning to metamorphose into toadlets. The next two weekends (Sept 19-21, 26-28) would be a great time to have some meadow rover presence along the trail around Tipsoo. The Toad numbers are not huge this year but there are at least several hundred in addition to hundreds of Cascade froglets. The newly emerged Cascade frogs have reached the trail and by next week I suspect the toadlets will be crossing the trail. Both species are concentrated around the inlet creek on the south side of the lake. I have included a couple of pictures from my recent visit. The idea would be to help prevent trampling of the toads and frogs as they cross the trail. Here again is the list of folks who helped Laura and may be interested in helping out. Please feel free to email or call if you would like additional information. I will probably send another email out on Monday or Tuesday. I know it is short notice but this weekend could also be a good time for meadow rover presence but next week will be best. In the photos note size of toadlets (< 1/2 inch) and cascade froglet ( ~ 3/4 of an inch).
