Sep 18, 2016
Tourism Cares volunteers rock Mount Rainier National Park on September 15, 2016!
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Tourism Cares volunteers rock Mount Rainier National Park on September 15, 2016!
The picnic shelter in the Longmire Stewardship Campground is complete!
Craftsmen in Mount Rainier’s carpenter shop, under the leadership of Mitch Anderson, have been working on this project for two years now, in between other projects. With much of the rest of the park inaccessible in the winter, this is a perfect season for such work, and the final roof boards were laid earlier this week.
As you can see in these photos, though, this is not just a slap-dash 2x4 frame shelter. Our crew built the shelter in a manner that mimics the historic “NPS Rustic” architectural style found throughout the Longmire Historic District, including the campground. It uses massive wood beams, carefully carved to fit tightly together without need for steel bolts.
The shelter is large enough to accommodate several picnic tables, and is located in the middle of the campground -- at the north end of the tent sites, just south of the residential RV sites (where employees live during the summer), adjacent to the middle bathroom, and around the corner from the community fire ring and our primary group campsite. Water and electric are accessible from the RV site immediately next to the shelter.
The shelter was constructed, in large part, with funds donated through Washington’s National Park Fund, yet another example of the tremendous value we get from that partnership. It will be used by groups ranging from schools and colleges visiting for education programs, to tribal groups using the nearby Tribal Use Area in wet weather, to youth crews conducting training, to volunteer groups like Starbucks employees and Mount Rainier National Park Associates teams gathering after a work day on the trail.
We look forward to using this beautiful new addition to our program this spring!
Have this Saturday free? Looking for a fun way to get outdoors and make a positive difference? Join us for a last-minute volunteer opportunity! We’ll be gathering at the Longmire Community Building at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday June 3 to prepare the Stewardship Campground for the summer season. Jobs include gathering and scattering storm debris from the winter, setting up platform tents, and filling potholes along the road -- along with a few other miscellaneous tasks. The work is suitable for all ages. It’ll be a fairly easy project day, with about 3 or 4 hours of work, all told.
This project is also advertised as a geocaching event, so if you happen to be a geocacher, go to https://coord.info/GC75H3J for more information and to register your attendance. “Muggles” (non-geocachers) are welcome too!
National Park Rangers Say "Take a Hike" and "Help a Trail" for National Trails Day
Release Date: June 1, 2016
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Kevin Bacher, Volunteer Program Manager, 360-569-6567
JOIN PARK RANGERS FOR SPECIAL CENTENNIAL TRAILS DAY EVENTS
The National Park Service invites park lovers to visit Mount Rainier National Park this Saturday, June 4 to celebrate National Trails Day and participate in stewardship events that also honor the National Park Service’s centennial.
Winter snow accumulations have started melting out along lower elevation trails, but snow continues to cover high elevation areas of the park. For information about the park’s trails and a summary of current conditions, visit our wilderness camping and hiking page at www.nps.gov/mora/planyourvisit/wilderness-camping-and-hiking.htm.
If you venture into the park’s backcountry this summer, be prepared for more difficult than usual conditions. As a result of winter storms, trail crews are finding that an exceptional number of trail bridges and foot logs have been washed away. Additionally, winter storms blew down a large number of trees over trails park-wide, with many root ends blocking entire trail widths. Conditions will improve as trail crews restore trails and bridges, but the work will require a considerable amount of time because of the extent of the damage. Visitors are cautioned to use good judgement in determining whether their planned route is safe under existing conditions. Of note: Due to winter damage the Grove of the Patriarchs Trail footbridge is unsafe for passage.
People can assist the park by volunteering in two ways:
· On Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, June 3-5, the Washington Trails Association (WTA) will lead trail maintenance work parties out of the White River Campground. Work crews will meet at 8:30 a.m., and those who wish to participate should sign up in advance by visiting www.wta.org and selecting the “Volunteer” tab. WTA will continue to lead volunteer trail maintenance parties every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through September. Sign up at wta.org.
· On Saturday June 4, volunteers will be doing restoration work in the Longmire Stewardship Campground. The work involves cleaning up and rehabilitating campsites damaged by a windstorm last November and is suitable for all ages. Participants should RSVP to Kevin Bacher at 360-569-6567 or Kevin_Bacher [at] nps.gov.
National Trails Day is a celebration of America’s extensive public trail system, and occurs annually on the first Saturday in June. National Trails Day is an opportunity to participate in trail-based events and activities that celebrate the importance of trails with friends, families, and communities.
To celebrate the centennial, the National Park Service is inviting all generations to discover or rediscover the special places that belong to all Americans. The National Park Service is challenging everyone to “Find Your Park” with creative events and activities throughout 2016. For more information visit: FindYourPark.com.
www.nps.gov
Park information, announcements, and the Mount Rainier webcams are posted on the park’s official website, nps.gov/mora.
· Get additional information and updates by joining the Mount Rainier community on Facebook: facebook.com/MountRainierNPS
· Find out breaking news and road status updates through Mount Rainier’s Twitter feed:
twitter.com/MountRainierNPS
· Explore the park and behind-the-scenes operations with our videos on YouTube:
youtube.com/MountRainierNPS
· Share your own photos of Mount Rainier with other visitors in the Mount Rainier Flickr group:
flickr.com/groups/MountRainierNPS
About the National Park Service- More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America's 409 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities.
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.
Volunteer group needed for Longmire Campground shutdown
Volunteers take down platform tents in 2014
Summer 2015 is now history, and as we ease into autumn, one task remains for the volunteer program: namely, shutting down the Longmire Stewardship Campground for the winter. This task involves taking down our five platform tents and hanging them to dry; storing their poles and cots in our warehouse; propping up the platforms under tarps for the winter; and generally cleaning up the campground from any litter, storm debris, or campfire residue left over from the summer. The whole task can easily be done with a dozen people in half a day, and is suitable for adults and/or teens. If you're part of a group this size and are looking for a way to volunteer, contact us and let us know! Our schedule is flexible, though the sooner we get this done the better, as autumn will only get wetter as time goes by. Please call Kevin Bacher, Volunteer Program Manager, at 360-569-6567, or write to Kevin_Bacher [at] nps.gov.
Park-wide Fire Ban In Effect
New this afternoon: "There is a parkwide fire ban in effect due to ongoing drought conditions and a red flag warning for the Mount Rainier area. Cooking by propane and white gas stoves and charcoal is permitted." This ban affects all campgrounds in the park, including the Longmire Volunteer Campground.
Fires limited in the Longmire Volunteer Campground
The fire ring north of Site 13, built by volunteers last fall, will be further improved as a community fire ring.
If you've been up to the Longmire Volunteer Campground recently, you've noticed that fire grates and concrete fire pads have been removed throughout the campground. This is a decision by park management intended to reduce smoke and improve air quality. Campground regulations are being updated to reflect the new policy, which involves the following points:
Fires are permitted only in established fire grates and fire rings.
Self-contained cook stoves are permitted.
Building new fire rings is not permitted.
Campground users will find a working fire grate in site number 6, and a second fire grate will be installed soon by park maintenance. A group fire grate will also be installed in site 13. These will be the only sites with facilities for campfires. Site 6 has also been improved for wheelchair accessibility. It may be reserved like any other site in the campground, but with the caveat that those without mobility challenges need to defer to those who need the accessibility the site provides. A community fire ring has been built and is already in use near site 13, and will be further improved soon by park maintenance with bench seating around it. This fire ring will be shared by everyone in the campground. Another fire ring is being built near the Community Building and will be used by both campers and residents. Campers are encouraged to gather at these sites and get to know their fellow campers. For cooking food, volunteers should plan to bring self-contained camp stoves instead of firewood. The revised campground regulations will be posted here as soon as they are updated.