In 1901 Houghton Mifflin Company published the articles by Johh Muir originally published in the The Atlantic Monthly. In the January 1898 issue, just over a year before the designation of Mt. Rainier as a National Park in March 1899, Muir wrote the essay, "The Wild Parks and Forest Reservations of the West", which included some impression from his visit to Mt. Rainier in 1888. And so here is the excerpt.
"The Mount Rainier Forest Reserve should be made a national park and guarded while yet its bloom is on; (1) for if in the making of the West Nature had what we call parks in mind,-- places for rest, inspiration, and prayers,-- this Rainier region must surely be one of them. In the centre of it there is a lonely mountain capped with ice, from the ice-cap glaciers radiate in every direction, and young rivers from the glaciers; while its flanks, sweeping down in beautiful curves, are clad with forests and gardens, and filled with birds and animals. Specimens of the best of Nature's treasures have been lovingly gathered here and arranged in simple symmetriical beauty with regular bunds.
"Of all the fire-mountains which, like beacons, once blazed along the Pacific Coast, Mount Rainier is the noblest in form, has the most interesting forest cover, and, with perhaps the exception of Shasta, is the highest and most flowery. Its massive white dome rises out of its forests, like a world by itself, to a height of fourteen thousand to fifteen thousand feet.
"The forest reach to the height of a little over six thousand feet, and above the forests there is a zone of the loveliest flowers, fifty miles in circuit and nearly two miles wide, so closely planted and luxuriant that it seems as if Nature, glad to make on open space between woods so dense and ice so deep, were economizing the precious ground, and trying to see how many of her darlings she can get together in one mountain wreath,-- daises, anemones, geraniums, columbines, erythroniums, larkspurs, etc., amoung which we wade knee-deep and waist-deep the bright corollas in the myriads touching petal to petal.
"Picturesque detached groups of the spiry Abies lasiocarpa stand like islands along the lower margin of the garden zone, while on the upper margin there are extensive beds of bryanthus, Cassiope, Kalmia, and other heathworts, and higher still saxifrages and drabas, more and more lowly, reach up to the edge of the ice.
"Altogether this is the richest subalpine garden I ever found, a perfect floral elysium. The icy dome needs none of man's care, but the unless the reserve is guarded the flower bloom will soon be killed, and nothing of the forests will be left but black stump monuments."
"1. This was done shortly after the above was written. "One of the most important measures taken during the past year in connection wiht the forest reservations was the action by Congress in withdrawing from the Mount Rainier Forest Reserve a portion of the region immediately surrounding Mount Rainier and setting it apart as a national park." Report of Commissioner of General Land Office, for the year ended June, 1899. But the park as it now stands is far too small."
The footnote was added in the book publication of the article, and the land issue was resolved partially in 1926 and significantly in 1931 to near the present day boundaries with minor additions and adjustments since then.
While John Muir's contribution to the effort to designate Mt. Rainier a national park should not be understated, a national figure of his importance in the conservation and preservation movement then, his contribution can easily be overstated, as has occurred. There were far more important people who did the blue collar work in the effort for national park status.
John Muir's voice was helpful, and his words are, as they were, eloquent in his own right.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
January Updates
I have updated the Mt. Rainier NP photo guide with the January news, access and conditions, and monthly report Web pages. January is a continuation of mid-late December, and will continue through the winter until March or April. In short, it's winter and everything winter. The NP is in full winter operation mode with all snow activities available in all designated areas open, which includes snowshoers, skiers, snowboarders and the snowplay area.
Currently the road to Paradise is controlled at the gate east of Longmire. It opens daily, weather permitting, after the parking lot at Paradise and road between Longmire and the gate is checked and cleared of snow, usually between 9-10 am. It also closes every day to uphill traffic at 4:00 pm. In addition, the NPS requires all vehicles carry chains and may require the use for non-four wheel drive vehicles at the parking lot just west of the Nisqually Bridge to Paradise.
Through the winter the only facilities open every day are those at Longmire (hotel and visitors center) and the only facilities open on weekends is the Jackson Visitors at Paradise (10 am to 5 pm). Everything else is closed for the season. If you go you should be prepared for winter travel with a proper equipment in your car, with the right clothes for all visitors, and with the necessary emergency gear of clothes, food, water, blankets, etc. You should also be flexible with your plans and schedule in case the weather changes or the NPS folks instruct visitors.
There's lots of excellent photographic opportunities for winter and snow scenes. Just go and enjoy.
Currently the road to Paradise is controlled at the gate east of Longmire. It opens daily, weather permitting, after the parking lot at Paradise and road between Longmire and the gate is checked and cleared of snow, usually between 9-10 am. It also closes every day to uphill traffic at 4:00 pm. In addition, the NPS requires all vehicles carry chains and may require the use for non-four wheel drive vehicles at the parking lot just west of the Nisqually Bridge to Paradise.
Through the winter the only facilities open every day are those at Longmire (hotel and visitors center) and the only facilities open on weekends is the Jackson Visitors at Paradise (10 am to 5 pm). Everything else is closed for the season. If you go you should be prepared for winter travel with a proper equipment in your car, with the right clothes for all visitors, and with the necessary emergency gear of clothes, food, water, blankets, etc. You should also be flexible with your plans and schedule in case the weather changes or the NPS folks instruct visitors.
There's lots of excellent photographic opportunities for winter and snow scenes. Just go and enjoy.
Friday, January 1, 2010
Recent books
I found two books which have chapters or sections on Mt. Rainier National Park, and while, the NP isn't the focus of the book, there is some interesing information about the NP, besides being good reads too. One should be easily available at most chain and some small bookstores and one probably will have to be ordered if you want a copy.
The first is "The Snow Tourist" by Charlie English, a reporter for the Guardian newspaper in the UK. He travels the world to talk to people living and working in the coldest places where there is snow, lots of snow. From near the artic circle to South America.
He has one chapter on the most snowfall in a given year, either Paradise at Mt. Rainier NP if you want to adhere to data collection standards, or Artist Point (ski resort) at Mt. Baker some distance north of Mt. Rainier and just south of the Canadian border, which has the "official" records but it's debated as they didn't use accepted standard method to determine the snowfall and snowpack.
Personally, I'll take Mt. Rainier's side on this issue because it's done at a site which is federal government reviewed and approved. It's not on the map of sites for Mt. Rainier NP because it's not a real-time site, meaning it's daily readings by NPS staff at a specific location. Both are described in the book.
The rest of the book is also excellent about the other places in the world where snow dominates life and work.
The second is "Wilderness in National Parks" by John C. Miles of my alma mater, Western Washington Univeristy. It's the story of wilderness designation in national parks. It's a historical and geographic tour of the NP's, where Mt. Rainier was one of many to have wilderness designation in the NP, meaning no commercial developmernt, such as roads, facilities, etc.
The book only talks about Mt. Rainier for about a dozen pages, not a lot in the 300+ page book, but the information is interesting and he confirms an idea I read in another book but not elsewhere. The 1915 map (field work 1910-13) was not just about producing the first map of the NP, but for the engineering purposes of building a road around the mountain, about where the Wonderland trail currently is around the mountain.
The road effort was never finished due to the obvious engineering and financial hurdles it would take to complete. And shortly thereafter a large section of the north side of the mountain, between the Ipsut campground in the northwest corner at the end of the Carbon River trail (formerly a road) to the current sunrise visitors center in the northeast corner from the White River entrance.
That area was the first wilderness designation for a NP and sealed the fate of any road circumnavigating the NP. Which adds to more of the firsts with Mt. Rainier NP (but the 5th NP). It was also the first designated from existing Forest Reserve, the Washington Forest Reserve. The road didn't happen, or at least all of it, but the map persists with the 1938 and 1971 updates.
Anyway, if you don't want to buy the book, get them in a bookstore with a cafe, buy a cup of coffee (I'll take a doppio con panna if you please) and read the sections or chapters.
The first is "The Snow Tourist" by Charlie English, a reporter for the Guardian newspaper in the UK. He travels the world to talk to people living and working in the coldest places where there is snow, lots of snow. From near the artic circle to South America.
He has one chapter on the most snowfall in a given year, either Paradise at Mt. Rainier NP if you want to adhere to data collection standards, or Artist Point (ski resort) at Mt. Baker some distance north of Mt. Rainier and just south of the Canadian border, which has the "official" records but it's debated as they didn't use accepted standard method to determine the snowfall and snowpack.
Personally, I'll take Mt. Rainier's side on this issue because it's done at a site which is federal government reviewed and approved. It's not on the map of sites for Mt. Rainier NP because it's not a real-time site, meaning it's daily readings by NPS staff at a specific location. Both are described in the book.
The rest of the book is also excellent about the other places in the world where snow dominates life and work.
The second is "Wilderness in National Parks" by John C. Miles of my alma mater, Western Washington Univeristy. It's the story of wilderness designation in national parks. It's a historical and geographic tour of the NP's, where Mt. Rainier was one of many to have wilderness designation in the NP, meaning no commercial developmernt, such as roads, facilities, etc.
The book only talks about Mt. Rainier for about a dozen pages, not a lot in the 300+ page book, but the information is interesting and he confirms an idea I read in another book but not elsewhere. The 1915 map (field work 1910-13) was not just about producing the first map of the NP, but for the engineering purposes of building a road around the mountain, about where the Wonderland trail currently is around the mountain.
The road effort was never finished due to the obvious engineering and financial hurdles it would take to complete. And shortly thereafter a large section of the north side of the mountain, between the Ipsut campground in the northwest corner at the end of the Carbon River trail (formerly a road) to the current sunrise visitors center in the northeast corner from the White River entrance.
That area was the first wilderness designation for a NP and sealed the fate of any road circumnavigating the NP. Which adds to more of the firsts with Mt. Rainier NP (but the 5th NP). It was also the first designated from existing Forest Reserve, the Washington Forest Reserve. The road didn't happen, or at least all of it, but the map persists with the 1938 and 1971 updates.
Anyway, if you don't want to buy the book, get them in a bookstore with a cafe, buy a cup of coffee (I'll take a doppio con panna if you please) and read the sections or chapters.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Area guides
I have updated the area guides for the three currently online (SW, NW and Paradise, SE and NE coming in the spring) for the winter season (December through April). I've updated the overview guide (above link) also for the season. I won't update these monthly because you can get that information from the other news, access, conditions and monthly report Web pages.
The winter is probably the most consistent and the most dynamic of the seasons on and around Mt. Rainier, and it's the longest, usually from early-mid November through mid-late April. All the rest fit into the remaining months with the only exceptions for years where the spring is early from a low snowpack or the fall is later into November. And in some years winter will last into June at higher elevations.
The winter is the most consistent because of snow. Once into winter (late November to early December) the seasonal snow is almost present throughout the NP, the only excpetions will be at the lower elevations, about 2,000-2,400 feet near the entrances. But even snow will be there when major snowstorms drop the snow level to 1,500 feet elevation throughout the Puget Sound region.
The winter is also the most dynamic for weather, from clear, sunny days for a few days to a week to major rain-on-snow storms and flood events and major snowstorms. This is why you have to be prepared, meaning your vehicle, your photography and hiking gear and yourself. You also have to be flexible with your plans and schedule and always be prepared to change them during your visit.
Winter is also the time the NP is in winter operation mode where everything is closed save one entrance and two visitors areas. The only entrance open is the southwest, Nisqually, entrance along with the facilities at Longmire. The road from Longmire to Paradise is controlled at a gate east of Longmire. The road to Paradise is checked and cleared of snow before the gate is opened, usually about 9 am, meaning snowstorms will force the closure until after the storm and clearing. It closes at 4 pm.
And even then only the Jackson Visitors Center at Paradise is open, and only on weekends and holiday (10 am to 5 pm). Everything else there is closed. And all that is available are winter activities, snowshoeing, skiing, snowboarding and the snow play area for kids, the last two after at least 5 feet of snow is present.
That said, winter is a good time if you love winter, and especially snow. And you still have two entrance, southweste and Carbon River ones, where snow isn't always present and you can get some winter hiking in, at least to the snow where you can snowshoe from there if you want. These areas with the Mowich Lake entrance offer excellent snowshoe routes.
The winter is probably the most consistent and the most dynamic of the seasons on and around Mt. Rainier, and it's the longest, usually from early-mid November through mid-late April. All the rest fit into the remaining months with the only exceptions for years where the spring is early from a low snowpack or the fall is later into November. And in some years winter will last into June at higher elevations.
The winter is the most consistent because of snow. Once into winter (late November to early December) the seasonal snow is almost present throughout the NP, the only excpetions will be at the lower elevations, about 2,000-2,400 feet near the entrances. But even snow will be there when major snowstorms drop the snow level to 1,500 feet elevation throughout the Puget Sound region.
The winter is also the most dynamic for weather, from clear, sunny days for a few days to a week to major rain-on-snow storms and flood events and major snowstorms. This is why you have to be prepared, meaning your vehicle, your photography and hiking gear and yourself. You also have to be flexible with your plans and schedule and always be prepared to change them during your visit.
Winter is also the time the NP is in winter operation mode where everything is closed save one entrance and two visitors areas. The only entrance open is the southwest, Nisqually, entrance along with the facilities at Longmire. The road from Longmire to Paradise is controlled at a gate east of Longmire. The road to Paradise is checked and cleared of snow before the gate is opened, usually about 9 am, meaning snowstorms will force the closure until after the storm and clearing. It closes at 4 pm.
And even then only the Jackson Visitors Center at Paradise is open, and only on weekends and holiday (10 am to 5 pm). Everything else there is closed. And all that is available are winter activities, snowshoeing, skiing, snowboarding and the snow play area for kids, the last two after at least 5 feet of snow is present.
That said, winter is a good time if you love winter, and especially snow. And you still have two entrance, southweste and Carbon River ones, where snow isn't always present and you can get some winter hiking in, at least to the snow where you can snowshoe from there if you want. These areas with the Mowich Lake entrance offer excellent snowshoe routes.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
December Update
Updated December 10th.--I've updated the news, the access and conditions, and the monthly report Web pages for the photo guide to Mt. Rainier NP. It's easy to describe the NP in December, and that is winter and more winter to come. The snow level is 3-4,000 feet elevation present throughout the NP above 4,000 feet, with 3-4 feet at 5,000+ feet elevation.
This mean the NP is in full winter operation mode, with all entrances closed at the NP except the Nisqually (southwest) entrance, open to Longmire and daily cleared to Paradise (weather permitting), and the Carbon River (northwest) entrance which is open to hikers. This entrance is open almost year around due to the lower elevation (~2,000 ft) at the entrance. All the facilities are closed except at Longmire (all open weather permitting) and Paradise (visitors center open weekends and holidays).
Paradise is currently open to winter activities for skiers and snowshoers. Snowboarders will have to wait until there is the minimum 5 feet of snow in the snowplay areas at Paradise. That should happen later in December, hopefully for the Christmas and New Years weekends. You can also snowshoe or ski into the Mowich Lake area when sufficient snow exists on the road.
Otherwise, for photographers, plan for all weather, be flexible with your plans and schedule, and be prepared with the clothes for the weather. And make sure you're familar with the winter driving rules in the NP. They control the road to Paradise just east of Longmire but also operate a chain-up area at the Nisqually Bridge parking if the road from the bridge to Paradise restricts access to vehicles or chains.
In addition I have updated the winter photography guide, with a map of places, activities and conditions. That's it for now. It's a simple word now, snow.
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