What's the scoop on Sunrise?

NPS website says dependant upon snow removal, duh.

Heard something about June 15th but why would they wait until a Sunday?
Anybody "in the know" , know?
Stimbuck????

Zap, Bonnie and I ran into a NPS maintenance employee on the (skier's) summit of Naches last Sunday and chatted with him about that very subject while we all took our break.

Not only was he not willing to throw out a date, he said "it will be a while, because there's still a lot of snow up there and they won't open it up until they get all the systems dug out, repaired as necessary, and then up and running".
It seems that the "average tourist's" lack of self sufficency is the "skier's lament" as far as our accessing Sunrise snow by automobile before the bathrooms and water systems are operational :

I called into the White River Ranger station today ( I was doing the tourist route with house guests from Chicago) to get the very latest straight from the horses mouth!

I was told " Lots of snow up there, my best guess is July 4th weekend". I then asked them if they where actively removing snow and he said yes. I think it was the other end of the horse I was talking to.

However, from vantage points along 410 and with my trusty binoculars I could see only one thing at Sunrise and that was" THE FRIGGING SNOW MELTING"

I think it is a conspiracy and that these Government fat cats are up their skiing away on our tax dollars. We need to organise and contact that lame park superintendent and complain.

I'll bet the road has been driveable for weeks. Why can't the NBS just keep a couple porta-potties on a trailer at Sunrise & put a sign at turnoff for White River CG: "No services ahead" ?? Same thing at Paradise the next time the semi-annual winter water outage closes that road for a week again...

Subject: Wilderness medicine classes and a sneak peak at Sunrise
From: Kevin_Bacher@nps.gov
Date: Sat, 14 Jun 2008 13:25:59 -0600

Dear friends,
I want to draw your attention to two major announcements on our volunteer program blog at rainiervolunteers.blogspot.com:
A SNEAK PEAK AT SUNRISE --- Saturday June 21
First, in honor of the official start of summer, come help us shovel out Sunrise!
The park hopes to have this subalpine area open in time for the 4th of July weekend, but lots of work needs to be done first. Projects include excavating hydrants, doorways and pathways -- all by hand to help preserve the historic structures from possible damage by heavy snow removal equipment. In return, you get to be the first ones to visit Sunrise this season. In fact, the road is still officially closed so we will meet at the White River entrance parking area to carpool from there. Please plan to join us at 10:00. The day will go until the snow is gone or our arms are too tired or 4:00.
Wear layers and feel free to bring a shovel if you'd like, but we'll have plenty available, too. Please don't forget your lunch and something to drink -- we'll have extra water available, but the facilities probably won't be turned on yet. You're also welcome to bring snowshoes if you'd like to take a quick tour while you're up there, but we will need to leave as a group at the end of the day.
To register, visit our Eventbrite listing at www.eventbrite.com/event/127014905 .

So, all you whiners out there, as Randy has posted you can make things better, help out the park and get some pre-opening access by volunteering to shovel out Sunrise next Saturday, meeting 10 a.m. at White River. Be there or be quiet!

Skipole