The NP is open

Mt. Rainier NP is open again, thanks to the Democrats and the President. But give the staff a few days to get things completely back to normal. And remember to thank them when you see them.

Their Website is also back, but the same story, give them a few days to get the information up to date. I'll be updating some of the Web pages on the photo guide for the latest information when it's available.

Webcams Web page

Update (10/14/13).--  I'm still having problems with the Web page for the NP Webcams, which is likely due to the issue of the NPS shutting down their Websites and servers and the Webcam pages or images being unavailable. This creates problems where the Web page won't fully load with all the images and stalls.

The NPS has replaced some of the cameras which have different size images. I have updated the size of the pop-up window for the new image size to full size except one, the view from Camp Muir, which is too large for most computer monitors and laptops, so the image is half the width and height (1/4 original size).

I don't see an answer to the problem of loading the Web  page until the government is open again and the NPS is back to work with the Websites, servers and Web cams. I'll run the Web page as long as the images are automatically updated, but don't be concerned if some of the images don't show and the Webcam, communications or network has problems.

Books

I have updated the Web pages for the books, articles, etc. on Mt. Rainier NP for three new books published this year, two on the Wonderland trail and one on a guide to the 100 peaks in the NP and for two recent USGS reports on rivers and lakes in the NP.

These are listed at the bottom of the respective section on hiking and US Geological Survey.

Quad Views

I have updated the Web pages for the four quadrants, the Carbon River and Mowich Lake entrances in the northwest, the Nisqually River entrance in the southwest, the Ohanapecosh entrance in the southeast and the White River entrance in the northeast, along with the Paradise Area in the south-central area of the NP.

You can find these at the photo guide and the quadrant overview Web pages. The complete guide for the northeast and southeast along with the accompanying maps have not been done yet. I apologize for this. The work to produce them takes 4-6 weeks from research to publication, time I haven't had in the last two years.

I plan to work on these later this year and hopefully on-line in 2014. Until then the other three areas are there and updated along with brief overviews of the two other areas.

National Park Closed

Update.--The government shutdown of some agencies, like the NPS, includes Websites which requires employees to manage, operate and maintain the Websites, Web pages and servers. They will return when the government is back.

Until further notice, meaning Congress passes a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government while they negotiate new 2014 appropriations bills or a longer CR, Mt. Rainier NP, like all National Parks, Wildlife Refuges, National Monuments, Museums, and other facilities, is closed.

This happened twice in 1995, first for two weeks and then for six weeks. I worked for the USGS then and while I, like all employees, wasn't getting paid, I worked as part of the staff necessary to keep the USGS' satellite realtime data collection system working for water resouces and other data for USGS gages.

You can argue the politics till the cows come home, but it doesn't change the reality of a government shutdown. No wins and the employees get nothing except promises of checks (they're salaried not waged, meaning paid for the year than by the hour) later, but no guarrantees for overtime or other extra pay for those who, like me, worked over 40 hours a week.

It sucks. It's bad politics and it's bad government. And the best we can hope is the elected politicians in Congress come to their senses and pass a clean CR for the President to sign and get the government and  employees back to work. That's all it takes.

So, if you're planning a trip to Mt. Rainier NP, you're out of luck until that happens. Just pay attention to the news and then wait a day or so for the NP to open.