Backcountry Magazine article on MRNP Winter Access

I thought those NPS employees were reading that other [relevant] thread.. not many views here, considering..

Seems like we need a letter-writing or phone campaign so the park cannot claim they have not heard from us.

Here is a comment since Ms. Swarthout perused social media but deems it irrelevant.

We went skiing today. Paradise Valley Road closed and plowed half way to 4th Xing; will not open until June 24th! according to the website. That almost 3 months of closure so that they can have 2 or 3 days of helicopter fecal removal from Camp Muir. So we checked out the Dead Horse Creek Trail Head: 12 foot snow/ice wall. So we hit the cattle trail thru the sled runs up frozen boot, snowshoe, snowboard, and ski tracks to a totally slaughtered Pan Face. I wonder if Ms. Swarthout has skied that? So the motto is "Concentrate use in space and time" and to h*ll with the quality of experience and safety of anyone not booting or snowshoeing.

...  Right now or beginning in mid-Fall would probably be the best time.... The standard format for Park Service email addresses is [first name]underscore[last name]@nps.gov, for example:  Randy_King@nps.gov  ...

Don't be surprised if there's no reply.  ...

I have e-mailed Randy_King@nps.gov (Park Superintendant/head guy) on several occasions (not relevant to road opening times) and have always gotten replies; when I've talked to him in person (including about access), he has listened and engaged.  Similarly with other park employees that I regularly encounter. However, I think among the leadership I might be considered a bit of crank-lone-voice-in-the-wilderness who has bugged not only MRNP people about various access issues but also US Senators, US Congresspeople (Gary is correct do not write them letters, your letters will be sent to a clearinghouse to check for anthrax), and various state and county elected and appointed officals LOL

"It takes a village" [maybe a large city] of voices to be heard.

The gate is opening earlier each day now, 7:30 or so this a.m.

I always wonder if Gator is secretly lurking these threads:-)
Miss those times Buddy, when we were just learning the basics.

It's even worse at Olympic where we lost Monday through Thursday access several years ago and Friday, Saturday and Sunday openings became much more unpredictable. Of course visitation rates are low! Plus, rangers come around and tell people to leave early when it starts blowing a bit.