NP Boundary History

Mt. Rainier, 1896

I've finished the brief history of the boundary of Mt. Rainier NP, see descritption and map. As you can see from the map the original NP was considerably smaller in size, thought to have been square but wasn't due to kinks in the township and range land plat system in use. That was resolved with the 1931 law adding new lands to the NP.

Subsequent changes occurred in 1988 and 2003, but these were mostly smalll additions or inclusions of land for better management of the NP resources, and with one small removal for Crystal Mountain ski resort's ski operations. The 1988 was for inclusion of adjacent USFS land for the NP to completely encompass the Stevens Canyon Road (southeast) and Westside Road (west central) into the NP and NPS management.

The 2003 was the inclusion of land just outside the northwest corner, the Carbon River entrance, for space for visitor facilities (parking, camping, building, etc.) because the land inside the NP was susceptible to flooding, namely 2006 and 2008 which destroyed number NP facilities, and the NP has approved the new Carbon River plan to move all but essential services to this new land, to close the old road, which has been temporarily closed since 2006, and to reroute the trail.

This addition will probably be the last in some time since it took so long to negotiate swapping private timber lands, and expensive. There still is a need to add land to the NP, but much of the land is in the USFS lands and has been logged. But that said, there is land in the northwest and southwest corner, the river corridors, which would benefit the NP for better management.

Anyway, that's the latest update. More is on the way over the next few weeks.

Topo Map Apps II

I wrote a previous post (read here) where I expressed my views on the three topographic map software packages for Apple laptop or desktop computers, specifically National Geographic's TOPO!, Mac Pro GPS and Garmin Basecamp. Well, two months later has anything changed?

For one NG hasn't changed. It's still the same software as before but it runs under Lion (OS-X 10.7.2) the same as before, or at least the parts I use. It still only has one glitch, you can't keep or use it as an icon on your dock. You always have to start it from the Applications folder. I use XMenu which is easier to start apps.

Garmin updated Basecamp, but it still has the stupid glitch it adds unnecessary harddrives to the device field and then pops up window when they can't be ejected. This bug still includes iDisk and Time Machine. This is stupid and dumb as neither are input devices for Basecamp but it appears to be a lesser issue to the developers.

That said, I'm still not enamored with the maps and the lack of ability to flatten the 3D effect similar to NG or just regular topo maps. There is no way to turn this feature off. It's also weird to see the details turned into short straight lines. This is due to the underlying data and interprelating line in between but it's goofy looking.

And lastly, their user's forum, well, it's helpful but then so is a Starbuck gift card you buy for yourself. It's full of people posting questions and bugs and lots of reasponses but little real help in those I read (ok, like mine and a few others). You walk, or surf, away feeling it's a waste of time since the company doesn't seem to respond with changes, fixes, etc.

Mostly, though, with the forum, it can't seem to remember I'm logged in, so after logging it and trying to post or reply, it prompts me for my user id and password again, and I've tried three browsers (Safari, Chrome and FireFox). It's something in the user setup in the forum.

My view of Mac Pro GPS is still the same since there hasn't been an update. I really hate it can't remember the user settings for window openings (only map) and size (defaults to full screen). And loading 20 7.5-minute quadranges (Mt. Rainier NP) on startup is time consuming, you just still and wait. At least it has the setting to remember the maps, but that's about all it does remember.

In the end, my opinion is the same, NG's TOPO! is still the better choice. I've seen some other topographic map software packages for Mac's but I'm not interested right now to buy the app and their map set. Why they all format USGS topo maps different and unique to their app is understandable marketing but dumb for the consumer.

On another note I did try Trailrunner, which is free. It's not a topographic map application, more a sports recreation application but still I found it cumbersome to learn and you need to use a map Website (openstreetmap.org) to import a route, and that Website is worse because you have to register and using it, well, forget it unless you have a lot of patience to learn and work with it. Not fun or easy.

So, best advice, forget it. It also pops up a window for a donation for 2 minutes before you can use it. Not smart. I'm keeping it for now but haven't used it beyond trying to learn it and the other Website. It's probably a good app, just not user friendly.

Snowplay Area News

The snowplay area is still closed as there still is not 5 feet of snow over the meadows for the snowplay areas at Paradise. No date has been announced for the opening of the snowplay area but hopefully it will be soon, but that depends on the snowfall and snowpack, which presently is just over 4 feet at Paradise Visitors Center.

You can keep updated with the Mt. Rainier NPS Twitter Account. The road status (Longmire to Paradise) and snowplay area with other news, will be posted there. This is a great resource for NP visitors.

Update Topographic Maps

Paradise Park, 1915, click for larger view

I updated the USGS topographic map Web pages, description and map, for the USGS' work producing topographic maps of Mt. Rainier NP from the first in 1915 to the latest with the 1971 NP map and the 15 maps in the series of 7.5-minute maps which covers the NP and some of the topographic map software packages available for Apple computers, tablets and cellphones.

That's it for now. Have a good Christmas holiday.

Photo Guide Review

Since I updated the news, conditions and prospects for the Mt. Rainier NP photo guide I started reviewing the suite of 400+ Web pages with the photo guide and my Website. Using some software applications and some traditional walking through Web pages I discoverd over a hundred broken links to other Websites and files.

I also reviewed the very long to do list for the photo guide and Website, which is lengthy for items and time, like 8-9 months full-time work. Yeah, some items long overdue and some time intensive, all of which I had planned to be done by none until the health issues over this last year derailed the plans and work.

Well, I'm getting past those issues. Not that they're solved or I'm well, just enugh to feel better and work again, and so I will be reviewing and fixing the problems with the Web pages first and then focusing on the most important Web pages before looking at those for 2012. I don't have a timeline let alone a date for any of this work anymore, it's just work and see what gets done.

So, the work you will be seeing will be more transparent, nothing obvious except the links to other Websites and files will be working, either removed, moved or fixed. I have some files on Apple's iDisk which don't work and will be moved to my Website for easier access. Some of the links I've discovered no longer have alternative links.

Anyway, that's the news for now. The news for December applies to the rest of winter except the snowplay area at Paradise which the NPS plans to open before the Christmas holiday. I'll be posting that information and you can check the NP's Twitter page for the latest news on the roads and Paradise area.

Winter 2011-12 Update

I have updated, at last, the Mt Rainier NP photo guide for the winter, December 2011 through February 2012, news, conditions and prospects for visitors and photographers. Everything is now winter in the NP and the only part without significant snow is the northwest corners, namely the Carbon River entrance.

You can now get the latest news from the NPS' Mt. Rainier NP Twitter Page about the status of the weather at the Nisqually entrance and the road from Longmire to Paradise controlled at the gate just east of Longmire. Add this to your cellphone (Twitter app free) if you plan trips to Mt. Rainier NP.

The snowplay and winter camping areas aren't open yet but probably will be open mid-late December. You can get more information from the NP's winter recreation Web page. If you like to play in the snow, be patient, it's almost here.

In addition, you must carry chains for your vehicle if you go in the winter. They're rarely required but still necessary if you get to Paradise and the weather changes so the road down the hill to Glacier Bridge requires chains. Many tire stores sell them on a rebuy program if you don't use them through the winter you can sell them back in April.

Go and have fun.