Changes at Mt Rainier -- road closed Tues, Weds

Working in the natural resources field I usually give the agencies some slack, as I know they are the stepchildren of the federal funding process.

But my thinking has changed regarding the NPS, especially at Rainier. Andrew - I'd agree that this all seems like a grand set-up for closing park access except on weekends in the winter. It sucks. I can clearly remember 15-20 years ago not thinking to much about a gate opening delay unless it was really snowing hard overnight and the forecast was for more of the same.

Now? As most folks, I give serious pause to a winter trip to Rainier because who knows what will be the excuse du jour for not opening the gate. Even on a weekend.

Just as ski areas charge a reduced fee for limited operations, Rainier should offer a reduced rate for running on limited access. The customer should also be well aware what terrain is available prior to heading to the park, just as ski areas post conditions on their websites. Why is it that Rainier's website is so stagnant?

Probably because web developers cost a lot more money than plow truck drivers. And if you can't afford to hire enough of the latter, there's not a snowball's chance in hell of snagging even one of the former.

Honestly though, there are a lot of talented folks who'd be willing to help the park out. The thing is they're completely not open to it. It's hard to volunteer time and effort to a place that is as unwelcoming as the NPS.

the last post evidently knocked my carefully crafted diatribe into hyperspace; so the audience will applaud my finding that it is getting totally not-worth-the-effort-to-post until something changes

I read your diatribe, and I would like to answer your rhetorical question about what it is the LEOs do up there. After two years of skiing Paradise regularly and never seeing a LEO get out of his car, I finally saw exactly what they're there to do.

When the road construction (where they cut up the road and replace it without changing anything except the drive time) cut the power to Paradise, 2 or 3 LEOs got out of their cars to stand guard in front of the restrooms and make sure nobody tried to go in there when they were dark, even if you had a headlamp on like I did.

Standing with their backs to one of the deadliest mountains in North America, they quacked on about how taking a piss in a dark bathroom was just too risky.

Thanks guys!

Unreal:

This was just posted to the MRNP Twitter account: twitter.com/MountRainierNPS/status/542102750650441728