Accessing Sunrise (mt. rainier) before road opens

Please share any official info that you receive from the NPS folks on the subject. The road is likely clear now to near the White River entrance station as clearing on 410 and 123 has been underway for some time now. <br><br>For what it is worth, we had an interesting encounter last spring (early June?)where the NPS staff at White River issued us permits for the trip you are describing and wished us well and then quickly attempted to chase us down to revoke our permit and restrict our access via the road. We eventually negotiated a mutualy acceptable "get-a-way" plan (proof that cool Rangers still exist!) and had a great trip.<br><br>We were attempting a bike approach from the White River Campground gate. We were told that the maintenance folks felt that no recreational access should be allowed when they were "working". In our instance, there was no equipment working on the road at all -- only in the parking lot. <br><br>Based upon the apparent "disagreement" within the NPS, I suspect we can expect a more formal policy with greater "enforcement" this year on days with maintenance crew activity.<br><br>

As I mentioned before, I volunteer with the Park at Paradise. There's a very real hazard to people trying to pass when maintenance crews are working (see comments under "That Damned Gate" post). Just dealing with their job is enough for the crews to handle and it is reasonable for the Park to decide that they shouldn't have to deal with travelers as well. I've heard reports of what happens to others who get too close (e.g. cars totalled) -it's not pretty. While you may be able to safely handle being on the road at the same time as the plows you would be amazed at the number of absolute bozos who go in the park and there's no test to figure out who will be the bozo before people go into the park. So the Rangers tend to be conservative in protecting safety.

This is info I included in my TR last June (I'm hoping this policy will still be in effect this year, but haven't checked yet):<br><br>"The Park has made a policy change this year regarding the gated Sunrise Road which makes it possible to use the road to access skiing without being an outlaw. A number of years ago, it was deemed permissable to bike or hike the Sunrise road up past the gate even when plowing was going on up higher. Then, reportedly as the result of a biker wiping out on rocks and threatening a lawsuit, the Park simply banned all uses of the road until the gate was opened (usually very late June), by which time the great touring typically was gone (although north facing chutes OK). This year, the policy has been changed back, partially. Here's what I was told by Dave at the White River RS (360-663-2273): there is now a reversible sign on the gate, which will read "Road Closed to Recreational Use" when crews are doing any work on the road, and "Recreational Uses Allowed: biking, hiking, skiing" when the crews are not working. The crews have semi-regular hours, typically 7:30 to 4:00 or so, but this can vary. This year, crews have been working 7 days a week. In contrast to previous years, the Park seems to be willing to release these details, so a call should provide the needed info. For people who do not wish to be outlaws, this new policy seems to mean that you need to start up the road before the crews change the sign in the morning, and wait to come down until they are done for the day (fortunately the crews don't seem to work all that late)."

FYI-I was looking down at the Sunrise Road from the summit of Crystal Peak on 4-2-04 and the road is snow bound from the WR ranger station. It does not appear to have any plowing going on at this time. The road is clear to the ranger station and white from there on to the campground.