N2P Road Construction Update, 11/30-12/6

Work in the new conduit and vaults in the Nisqually Road continues through December 18 with the installation of fiber optic cable between the Nisqually Entrance and Longmire.

Work will take place during daylight hours, Mondays through Fridays, with the exception of holidays.

Flaggers will direct traffic through one lane as necessary. There may be more than one location where this will happen.

Traffic delays will be no more than 30 minutes total one-way.

Please drive slowly in work areas.

OptOutside for Green Friday!

I got up extra early today to come up with a witty post, but instead I decided to #OptOutside and celebrate #GreenFriday. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving, and instead of getting in line for Black Friday deals, go celebrate YOUR National Parks today. Entrance fees for Mount Rainier and Olympic National Parks have been waived, which may be the biggest deal of all. Get out there and #FindYourPark.



Rampart Ridge, November 24, 2015

 

Green Friday or Black Friday?

 

Either way, #OptOutside with us tomorrow and enjoy your National Park, free of charge!

This Thanksgiving, We are Thankful for YOU.

This Thanksgiving, we want to thank you. Yes, you, the Mount Rainier VIP. Without you, who knows what the park would even be like today. From maintaining the trails, to removing invasive species, to replanting our meadows, to educating visitors, to search and rescue operations, to assisting in the park collections, to answering countless questions in the Visitor's Centers, to collecting vital information from citizen science surveys, to seemingly infinite other responsibilities, the volunteers are really what makes Mount Rainier such a special place for nearly 2,000,000 visitors each and every year. We really cannot say it enough. Thank you, Mount Rainier volunteers!

 

 

Click to Enlarge

The Sooty Grouse: Mount Rainier's "Turkey?"

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, much of the nation is looking to the turkey to be the centerpiece in their festive feast.  Mount Rainier has over 230,000 acres of beautiful wilderness, but you would be very hard pressed to find a Wild Turkey grazing in the park.  But surely there has to be a similar bird somewhere out there, right?

Sketch of the "turkey" of Mount Rainier
 by C. Frank Brockman

In the November 1, 1928 Mount Rainier Nature News Notes, the second full-time Park Naturalist, C. Frank Brockman, wrote an article giving that honor to the sooty grouse.  An excerpt from Mr. Brockman's writing:



"Perhaps you know the Sooty Grouse as the "hooter" for one of his chief characteristics is the throaty hooting that is often kept up for long periods. To some this continued vocal effort is a sign of rain--like the continued call of the dove--but this theory is not borne out by fact. The Sooty Grouse is a handsome bird, about the size of the domestic hen and its dark slate or "sooty" color is finely mottled with grey and brown. Thus, like many other of Nature's children, it finds its chief protection in the fact that it looks like the region in which it lives. We find it in meadows between 4000 and 6000 feet, strutting about in the huckleberry patches or perched on a gnarled limb of a Mountain Hemlock surveying the passer-by with a calm deliberation that bespeaks of a total absence of fear."



C. Frank Brockman with park visitors and Charlie, circa 1941

 During his tenure at Mount Rainier, C. Frank Brockman helped to shape many of the programs that we still see in the park to this day.  When he was first hired as the Park Naturalist in 1928, one of his first tasks was to convert the Old Longmire Administration Building to a public museum, the Longmire Museum, which is still in use today.  He also oversaw the creation of a visitor's center at both Paradise and Sunrise throughout the early 1930's.  After leaving the National Park Service, Brockman became a Professor of Forest Recreation at the University of Washington, retiring in the late 1960's.  C. Frank Brockman passed away on March 20, 1985, but his legacy can still be seen throughout Mount Rainier National Park today.

BEHIND THE SCENES: A Look at the Meadow Rover Office at Paradise

In today's volunteer photo submission, we are featuring a picture taken by Ed Hunds.  Throughout the summer, Ed was roving the many miles of trails at Paradise.  Before heading out on the trials in the morning, or after a long day in the subalpine sun, the Meadow Rover office was the place to share stories, warn of problem areas, and to rehydrate.  It wasn't uncommon to see five, six, seven, or even more people around the office on any given summer day.  Thanks to this photo from Ed, we are able to get a little sneak peak into the life of a Meadow Rover. 

 



Photo by Ed Hunds



 

Even with the ever increasing snow totals at Paradise, try to remember that not too long ago the trails were clear and the sun was hot.  If you aren't one for that cold stuff, then enjoy this picture, also submitted by Ed, of the packed trails in Paradise.

 



Photo by Ed Hunds

Do you have any pictures that you took while you were volunteering this year?  How about a cool story of something you did out on the trails?  Do you love knowing that your pictures and stories could be viewed by MILLIONS (maybe a slight exaggeration) of visitors to this blog, every day?!  If so, send them along to Ian at ian_harvey@partner.nps.gov and you may be featured on this blog and our Volunteer Facebook page.

 

 

Thank you Ed for your submissions to us!  Keep an eye out in the future for more photos shared by Ed and our many other volunteers!

Snow Roving and Winter Operations Training

It seems as though we have skipped right over autumn and jumped headfirst into winter.  The nights are getting colder, the days are getting shorter, and snow is starting to accumulate at Paradise.  Every morning when I come into my office at Longmire, I am walking across frosted sidewalks and white grass.  With winter comes the announcement of the Winter Operations Training for volunteers and interpretation staff. 

The Winter Operations training will be DECEMBER 19th FROM 9:00am TO 5:00pm, and we will be meeting in the Community Building at Longmire, adjacent to the Longmire Stewardship Campground, for the first portion of the training.  This training will cover the paperwork necessary to become a Snow Rover (the position description and responsibilities are different from Meadow Roving and modified from last year's Snow Rovers, so anyone wanting to Snow Rove this year will NEED to fill out a new volunteer agreement), an introduction to the roles of different divisions in the park, general safety, the art of informal interpretation, and the operations of both Longmire and Paradise programs throughout the winter.  We will cap off the day with an example Ranger led snowshoe walk out of Paradise introduce you to "a day in the life" of a snow rover.

It is important to stress that Nordic Patrol, Winter Interpreters, Snow Rovers, and Meadow Rovers are each different volunteer positions, and each requires a separate volunteer agreement.  If you are already signed up as a Meadow Rover, for example, you are not automatically also a Snow Rover.  The duties and priorities are different, and if you have registered as a Meadow Rover or were a Snow Rover last year but haven't yet signed paperwork as a Snow Rover this year, you are notauthorized to do the work.  If you are interested in participating and cannot make it to the training on DECEMBER 19th, contact Ian (ian_harvey@partner.nps.gov) and make arrangements to sign up. 

5-Minute Presentations Are Needed!
We will begin the Winter Operations Training with a series of BRIEF presentations on winter safety topics, such as the 10 Essentials, preventing falls, snow shoveling, hypothermia, dehydration, frostbite, winter driving, cold and flu prevention, etc.  If you would like to put together  a 5 minute presentation on one of these topics, or something similar, please let us know when you RSVP, and we will add you to the schedule!

RSVP RSVP RSVP RSVP RSVP
Please RSVP to ian_harvey@partner.nps.gov in advance to make sure we have enough materials and space available in the Community Building before December 19th.  If you have any questions about registering or that should be brought up in the training, please also send them to Ian in advance so we can better prepare!

Take a look at this list if you are interested in Snow Roving this year:



Please click the image to enlarge.

We look forward to a fantastic winter!

Like Us On Facebook!

 

Remember to like our Mount Rainier National Park Volunteers page on Facebook!  We are looking to stay in touch with all of our volunteers during the slower winter season, and what a better way than liking us on Facebook?  Stay up to date with the latest information, get a behind the scenes look at the volunteer program, and meet other volunteers, all at www.facebook.com/RainierVolunteers!

Storm damage in the Longmire Stewardship Campground

Tuesday's wind and rain storm played havoc with the Longmire Stewardship Campground, blowing down 65 -- yes, 65 -- trees. Rangers spent Wednesday assessing the damage and Thursday beginning the long process of cleaning it up, starting with simply removing fallen trees from access roads, including the road to our water treatment plant and back gate. A lot more work remains to be done with the help of volunteers, probably next spring.

Here are some photos of the damage as it's being sorted out on Thursday afternoon. I'm extremely grateful to the maintenance rangers for their hard work on behalf of our volunteers and partners! As you can see, we have much to do, but we were also extremely lucky. It could have been a lot worse.

The middle bathroom is being renovated, and thankfully
was not damaged.

The southern end of the employee hookup sites sustained a lot
of damage. Fortunately no one was staying here at the time.

Our carpenters are in the process of building a picnic shelter
for volunteers and partners to use. It was undamaged.

A closer view of the picnic shelter in progress.

A panoramic view of fallen trees mid-campground.
Click for a larger view.

Maintenance worker Tom Moore works on clearing fallen
trees from the platform tent loop.

The southern end of the platform tent loop sustained more
damage than anywhere else.

Fallen trees at the southwest end of
the campground.

Jackstraws, with one to three foot diameter straws.

Tom Moore wrestles with fallen trees.

Group site A, at the southern end of the campground.
Amazingly, our beautiful new picnic tables sustained
only the most minor of damage. None were hit directly.

Mid-campground, just north of the shower building.

Some places are a real mess...

At the southern end of the employee area, as viewed from
the east side of the campground.

Immediately behind the Community Building.

This photo perfectly illustrates how lucky we were. This
tree missed the fire box (with its brand new roof installed
by volunteers this August) and fire hydrant by six inches.

A Peculiar Sight and an All Too Common Sight at Sunrise

Today we are featuring photos from VIP Meadow Rover Mike Mauch.  Throughout October, Mike was hiking the trails at Sunrise, educating visitors about the area and being one of the few on patrol in the area after the Visitor's Center and Ranger Station both closed.  While roving, Mike had a few encounters and was lucky enough to have his camera with him.



Photograph by Michael Mauch, 2015

While hiking towards Shadow Lake in the early afternoon in the first weeks of October, Mike felt as though something was following him.  Having much experience hiking in grizzly country, Mike was constantly glancing over his shoulder.  Just a short ways down the trail, when he looked over his shoulder, he was being stalked.  Only twenty yards behind him was a Cascade Red Fox, tracing Mike's steps.  Since his camera was handy, Mike stopped to snap a few pictures.  As he was doing this, the fox calmly trotted the opposite direction, back up the trail.  Mike, cautiously and stealthly, followed.  Around the next corner, the fox had walked uphill offtrail and bedded itself only about 20 feet away from the footpath.  With great patience came great photographs.  While the fox was basking in the sun just offtrail, two visitors were able to share this experience with Mike as we was sharing his knowledge of the fox with them.

Later in the month, Mike had experienced something that is far too common in the subalpine meadows of Paradise and Sunrise, and something that nearly every Meadow Rover has had to deal with while out on the trails.  While in the area of First Burroughs, Mike had seen a family of mountain goats in the middle of the meadow.  Close behind that family was a visitor, well off trail, trying to snap some pictures of the family (possibly without bothering using his zoom?).  Mike had began to approach him about this, but the rule breaking photographer quickly packed up and was off, before Mike was able to get to him.  This continued to happen again and again, when finally Mike was able to set up his camera on an established and marked trail, and get this beautiful picture of some of the mountain goats grazng with the photographer in the image as well.  It just goes to show that you can capture some really amazing moments happening in the meadows, from right on the trail.

 

Photograph by Michael Mauch, 2015

 

Thank you, Mike, for sharing these pictures with us and for your Roving this year!  Do you have any pictures or stories to share from your time volunteering?  If so, send them to Ian at ian_harvey@partner.nps.gov and you may be featured on our blog!