Pierce County’s Foothills Regional Trail today was one of 54 trails designated as a national recreation trail. The announcement was made earlier today by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar and National Park Service Director Jonathan B. Jarvis.

The designations add almost 1,400 miles of trails to the National Trails System. Spanning 23 states, the land and water trails provide opportunities for communities to connect to the outdoors, Salazar said in a news release.

The Foothills Trail covers 15 miles from Puyallup to South Prairie and two miles in Buckley. When complete, the trail will cover more than 28 miles. …

Read more »

A 36-year-old Finnish mountaineer died from injuries incurred in a fall while descending Mount McKinley on May 23, according to a National Park Service news release.

Ilkka Uusitalo of Oulu, Finland, was skiing down the 40- to 45-degree slope known as the ‘Orient Express’ with two teammates when he fell from an elevation of 17,800 feet and was unable to self-arrest. Uusitalo tumbled through snow, ice, and rocks, coming to a stop in a crevasse at 15,850 feet.

While one of his teammates continued down to the Park Service ranger camp at 14,200 feet for rescue assistance, Uusitalo’s other teammate …

Read more »

The staff at Mount Rainier National Park is scrambling to find campground hosts for Cougar Rock and Ohanapecosh.

If you feel you could fill either of these positions, contact Kevin Bacher at 360-569-6567 or fill out an application at this website.

Here is the rest of the news release Bacher sent out:

Duties:
1) Answer visitor questions about the campground, the park, and the area.
2) Assist with registration and orientation of visitors.
3) Perform campground patrols when necessary.
4) Perform light maintenance duties in the campground such as picking up trash.
5)

…

Read more »

The Peace Out 5k Fun Run & Walk

When: Saturday, June 2, 2012, 9:00 a.m.

Where: Chambers Bay Golf Course public trails. 9850 64th St. W. University Place, WA 98467

Why: Fundraiser for local 501(c)(3) non-profit Peace Out,

Who: Peace Out is a local 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to advancing world-wide philanthropy teaching teens how to use resources available to them now to raise funds for the causes they support. In the process, teens learn about the needs of others in their community and in the world, and learn how to rally their own skills and resources to

…

Read more »

People looking to take a drive this holiday weekend now have another option.

The state Transportation Department earlier today reopened Chinook Pass on state Route 410 on the east side of Mount Rainier National Park.

Road crews completed avalanche control and finished clearing snow today to make their goal of opening the pass for the Memorial Day weekend.

After the North Cascades Highway and Cayuse Pass, Chinook is the last of three Washington mountain passes to reopen after their winter closure, according to The Associated Press.

From the National Park Service:

A 1964 Cobra sports car valued at $800,000 was completely consumed in a fire in the Zion Mount Carmel tunnel on the afternoon of Monday, May 21st. The fire was reported to the park just after 5 p.m. and the park’s structural fire engine company responded along with the Springdale/Rockville fire department and two wildland fire engines. A Type Six engine with a 250 gallon tank and a pump capacity of 150 gallons per minute entered the tunnel with two firefighters wearing SCBAs.  A second Type Six engine, two Type One engines, and the wildland

…

Read more »

Sport anglers will be able to fish a portion of the lower Columbia River for spring chinook salmon Saturday and Sunday.

Fishery managers from Washington and Oregon agreed Wednesday to reopen the fishery for two days to boat and bank anglers from Buoy 10 to Beacon Rock. Bank anglers also will be allowed to fish from Beacon Rock upriver to the deadline at Bonneville Dam.

The daily limit is two adult hatchery salmon, two hatchery steelhead or one of each. However, anglers may retain only one chinook salmon as part of their daily limit. All wild salmon or steelhead with …

Read more »

Washington is once again the most bicycle friendly state in the country according to the League of American Bicyclists. It’s the fifth year in a row Washington has received the distinction.

“We’re encouraged to see significant progress in top states like Washington …,” league president Andy Clarke said in a prepared statement.  “But, as the scores clearly highlight, there’s much work to be done in critical areas like infrastructure and funding.  Overall, we see states – and especially state Departments of Transportation and state legislatures – lagging behind cities and the expectations of local cyclists, despite the many well-documented benefits of a …

Read more »