MVP Amy Mann

photo provided by Amy Mann

MVP Amy Mann got interested in volunteering at Mount Rainier National  Park while hiking with a friend, Dick Gorenson. Amy hiked with him while Dick was meadow roving and thought it would be something she would like to do when she retired. So in June, 2007 Amy officially became a volunteer.

She can be seen meadow roving at both Sunrise and Paradise, and in the  winter months she is a snow rover in the Paradise area. Amy is glad to see an  official snow rover program on the mountain and believes it is very much needed.

Ideally, Amy tries to volunteer once a week, “but I can’t always manage that.” She has over 600 volunteer hours so far.

When asked what gives her the most satisfaction as a volunteer, her answer is “Sharing the beauty and majesty of our backyard wilderness with others.”

The Tacoma branch of the Mountaineers also keeps her occupied. She has led hikes, backpacks and snowshoe trips for them and also writes the weekly hike column that the Branch puts in the Tacoma and Olympia newspapers. The columns started in June, 2004 and will conclude at the end of 2014 after more than 10.5 years!

What else fills her time? She does much traveling to the East coast and overseas to visit her children and grandchildren!

~Jean Millan