Getting Involved

This post isn't about photography or related to my photography guide to Mt. Rainier National Park. I was noticing that there are a lot of ways people get involved in the National Park (NP). These organizations do many things in the NP and for the National Park Service (NPS) in and for Mt. Rainier NP.

The reason for these groups and organizations to ask for volunteers, help and money is simple. Under the last succession of President, the National Park Service has been seriously underfunded to just keep up with the routine maintenance in the National Parks in addition to new work and repairs from major events, such as the floods of November 2006 in Mt. Rainier NP.

And some of these are as follows.

NPS Volunteer Program

This Web page list all the programs you can consider if you want or plan to volunteer to work in the NP. You have lots of opportunities to help.

Washington Trail Association

The WTA focuses on the trails in the National Parks and Forest Service Forest in Washington State, from lobbying for additional funds through Congress to schedule trail development and maintenance.

Mountaineers

The Mountaineers, the oldest outdoor recreation organization in Washington, works on the public access and improvement of National Parks, Forest Service and Bureau Land Management lands in Washington State. They have branches in several cities, but most of the work done in Mt. Rainier NP is done through the Tacoma branch.

Mount Rainier Volunteers

The volunteers works on a range of work and projects about Mt. Rainier NP.

Students Conservation Association

This SCA sponsors work parties for high school students for the National Park.

Some of these organizations have member program or will take donations if you can't volunteer your time. You can get a longer list of organizations on the Mt. Rainier Volunteers Web blog (see partners in right column).

Geology Web page

I've put up the initial Geology Web page. It's not a comprehensive Web page, there's far too much information to do that in a page or two. Nor is it an overview of the geology of Mt. Rainier, there's too many available on-line and in books. It's more just information I find interesting and usually not mentioned in the overviews and detalied to death in the scientific studies and reports.

The Web page is more to give you an idea of the complexity and dynamics of Mt. Rainier. It's the result of the history of mountain range (batholith) building, volcanism (plate tectonics), continental and mountain glaciation (Puget Sound glaciation stages), and mass wasting events (landslides, debris and mudflows and lahars). And its story isn't often what people think about volcanoes and mountains.

In addition, I've listed some geology books and reports, see bibliography and some Websites, see bottom of geology Web page, if you want to learn more. Some of the link to on-line material goes back to the first geologic explorations of Mt. Rainier in the 1890's, which includes a short trip to and overnight stay in the summit crater. And that's without all the technology of modern outdoor clothes and climbing tools.

Mt. Rainier is not a static volcano as many visitors think. Things happen every minute, mostly small, and out of sight and mind of people, but a few become news, such as rockslides on climbing routes, glacial outburt floods, and debris/mud flows down creek(s) into the rivers draining Mt. Rainier. So while climbers know the hazards and risks, most hikers and visitors don't. It's rare anything will happen but it doesn't hurt to stay alert.

Anyway, that's it for the initial version which will be updated occasionally.

New Contact Web page

Ok, at the request of a friend who didn't like that I have used a direct link for e-mail (a "mailto" in html code) because she didn't use MS Outlook, and wanted me to develop a standard contact form Web page, I've done this and it should be consistent throughout the Website and the navigation bars, as now linked to this Web page.

It will be improved as I learn more about php to add some choices and spam protection. And if you know of some cool tools or things you'd like to see on it, you can use it to send the links to me. And all you real Web designers and programmers can stop laughing at my simplistic effort with this Web page. Remember we all have to begin somewhere learning something new. I don't expect to learn that much more php, just enough to get this script better. I have more interest in other things on my Website than learning programming.

So have a good summer. I'm planning some hiking-photography and working on the photo guide to Mt. Rainier NP.

Paradise Area

I updated the Web page for the Paradise area (Jackson Visitors Center) in Mt. Rainier NP. You can get an overview of the separate quadrants and Paradise areas. The goal is to provide more detail information for each area to help you with your visit and photography.

Over the next month or so, the other areas will have the Web pages updated similar to the Paradise area Web page. Everyone is welcome to send e-mail with suggestions or questions they have about the areas and would like to see more information. Over time, each of these areas will be more fully expanded with more information, references and photos. For now I want to get an initial framework up to see what direction I need to go with the Web pages.

In addtion, work will continue on the other Web pages, labelled "forthcoming", meaning overviews and guides to other aspects of Mt. Rainier NP which should help your visit and photography. Some of these areas are beyond my experience, and I will be using help from friends and available resources to develop the Web pages, so your help would be appreciated. You can see where I'm at from the table of contents.

Updated news and access

I updated the table of contents with new and updated information in the news Web page, access and conditions Web page and seasonal conditions. What does this mean to the visitor?

For one, with the unusually high snowpack and late snowmelt, some roads are either closed or open daily depending on snow removal. For another, the Washington State Highway Department will start repairs to highways 123 and 410 beween the Stevens Canyon entrance and Cayuse and Chinook passes from the storms and landslide of recent years. And lastly, many trails are still snowbound about 4-5,000 feet as there is still over 8 feet of snow at Paradise.

For the visitor going to the Nisqually entrance, to alleviate the parking congestion at Paradise from the snow and construction, the NPS will be operaing a shuttle service between Whittakers Mountaineering Services parking lot to Longmire and Paradise Friday through Sundays to Labor Day. The parking is free but the park entrance is $5 if you don't have an annual pass.

Lastly, I've added a bibliography of books I've collected over the years which can be useful to visitors and photographers. Many of the books are still in print and available from local or on-line bookstores. The exception is the older USGS reports which are available from the USGS on-line publication library or can be copied at your USGS district (state) office.

Over this summer I will be updating the individual area information Web pages, starting with the Paradise area, which should be done in the next week or so. The other four areas will be update through July. I hope to have some basic information on each by early August.

I hope this helps. The next schedule update will be in early July or earlier if I see new information about roads and trails.