Mount Rainier Cleanup Event

[+Wander Lost]

Well after many many months of calling and pestering them leaving messages, the people heading up the recovery efforts at Mount Rainier are finally ready for us!!!

 

I told them back in the spring that we needed to get something scheduled early because our summer weekends fill up quickly with events. When they finally called me I opened up the GC.com event list for Washington and almost every weekend between now and October has an event already. Some even have two!! Looking at the schedule I had three choices: Aug. 25th (not enough time to prepare), Sept. 22nd (Grays Harbor CM is supposed to be this weekend but not posted yet) or Sept. 15th (GSEWA Picnic). I considered the three options and decided that the 15th worked best for me planning this. This afternoon I got the okay from the park that this date works for them as well.

 

I'll be getting a cache page together as soon as I can. What I can tell you right now is that it will be a day of work. You can stay for as much or as little as you are able to, but we plan on making it a full day event. I think we'll plan on a potluck style lunch but if all goes well, we'll be able to supply the main dish. We'll just ask everyone to bring sides and desserts.

 

I'm hoping to have some prizes to give away. I've been stock piling a few things here and there and hope to get a few donations from the community as well. I'll post more details when I have them, but please post to this thread as soon as you can if you are interested in helping out. The park needs to know what kind of numbers we will have to determine what area/project that we will be most effective on.

Edited July 28, 2007 by Wander Lost

[+WRASTRO]

September 15th looks like it works for me! I will hope to be there and may be able to drag Elroy, Boy Genius along as well. Where do you think the HQ will be?

[+Prying Pandora]

That's my daughter's birthday so unfortunately I won't be able to participate.

[+Allanon]

That's my daughter's birthday so unfortunately I won't be able to participate.

I was just thinking about this the other day and wondering about what had happened to it.

 

Unfortunately, a coworker's wedding is that day so I'm going to miss this.

 

Have fun and take lots of pictures!

[+hydnsek]

Count me in - thanks for pestering organizing this! Will it be listed as a CITO event, or ??

[+Wander Lost]

Where do you think the HQ will be?

 

We won't know that until we get closer to the actual date and they know how many of us to expect. Then they will match the size of our group with an area..

 

Count me in - thanks for pestering organizing this! Will it be listed as a CITO event, or ??

 

Yes, I plan on submitting this as a CITO event.

[+superhoser]

I should be heading east to go bow hunting starting the 16th so I am out.

[+LandRover]

I'm not allowed to plan anything during the middle of September as my new Grandson is supposed to be showing up about then.

[+WeightMan]

I will be finishing up my Europe trip that weekend and won't be returning until the Monday following. Sorry.

[+TotemLake]

It looks like I'm good for the 15th.

[+Recdiver]

It is on my calendar. Thanks.

[+Wander Lost]

The cache page is up and pretty much formatted as I want it. (I"m not very good with web design so it's not too flashy)

 

Mount Rainier Recovery CITO Event

 

I hope to add to the list of prizes as we go along and will up date both the cache page and this thread as I get updates on the where, what & when.

[+brumbjorn]

On my calender! Mr. B may or may not come (the stinker) and I may be bringing a coworker and her husband who are not cachers (yet...) but do a lot of hiking to help

[+Wander Lost]

Okay I exchanged emails with the park again today. It looks like the Longmire area is pretty much set. That is where they need the help the most. At this point we'll plan on staging at the lodge there. I'll update the cache page shortly.

 

I found out that they have camping available at Cougar Rock campground and it will accomodate trailers up to 29' in length if anyone is interested in camping the night before. They can set asside a few sites for us as volunteers to make sure we get a place to camp. There is also a group tent site that we may get use of. I get more specifics on that if there is interest in group camping.

 

There is also a call for some hearty souls:

 

We may also have a sherpa project or two for folks who really like to hike, if you think there would be interest in that.

 

Let me know if you'd be interested and I'll get more details.

[+Wander Lost]

*Bump*

 

10 more days until this event. I have asked the park about camping and entrance fees. In previous conversations I was told that they can set aside campsites for us in the typically non-reservable Cougar Rock Campground. They also have a group tent site that we can have use of if we have enough interest. One of the questions I am working out is if the camping is at the normal rate or if there is a discount for volunteers.

 

MarcusA. had asked about park entrance fees. I have to assume that they would be waived for volunteers but I wont commit to that yet. I will wait until I confirm that with the park.

[+-Hawk-]

For your info, Snookie74 and I are interested in camping the night before the cleanup, and maybe the night of as well. Not sure of how difficult it would be to get from there to my event in Lakewood the following morning.

 

We will look here, I would guess, for updates on the camping fee and park entrance fee.

[+-Hawk-]

For your info, Snookie74 and I are interested in camping the night before the cleanup, and maybe the night of as well. Not sure of how difficult it would be to get from there to my event in Lakewood the following morning.

 

We will look here, I would guess, for updates on the camping fee and park entrance fee.

 

After much thought and consideration, Snookie74 and myself will have to withdraw our intentions to camp the night before the event. We are just not sure how late it would be, before we could get down there on Friday night. We will just drive down on Saturday morning.

 

Any update on the Park Entrance Fee?

Edited September 11, 2007 by -Hawk-

[+Wander Lost]

Any update on the Park Entrance Fee?

 

I sent another email to my contact tonight. I plan on giving her a phone call tomorrow.

 

She was out of town last week so hopefully is just behind in reading her emails.

[+Wander Lost]

Just checked my email at lunch and here is the latest info I have.

 

Thanks for the follow-up, Janet. Park admission is free to all volunteers --

just have folks tell the gate that they're volunteering with SCA. Camping is

also free, and we have a permanent group site at Cougar Rock reserved for

vounteers. It's the "Ranger Site," marked also as "SCA." Folks with trailers

should contact the campground directly to figure out their needs. It has not

been at all busy lately, so I'm sure there will be plenty of room.

 

As for the projects, we will provide all tools and equipment (but thanks for the

offer!). There will be several projects to choose from, depending on how many

folks we have. Do you have a final count yet? We will meet in the Longmire

parking area near the Museum entrance at 9:00 on Saturday. Most of our

volunteers pack a lunch and we take a break in the middle of the day, but we can

end early afternoon for your group to eat at the Inn, if you'd prefer. Folks

should probably at least bring snacks, though, and I'm not sure my corps will

last until 2:00 without lunch! Our volunteer projects generally go until 4:00ish. Perhaps we can

check in on Saturday morning about your vision for the day and adjust projects

accordingly. They're mostly pretty flexible.

 

Please encourage carpooling as parking can be limited! Please also make sure

that volunteers wear long pants and sturdy footwear (preferably boots). They

should bring layers, including rain gear, drinking water (we will have refills

available), sunscreen and work gloves. Any minors will need to have signed

consent forms in order to participate -- I'll attach those to this email if you

know of anyone coming without a parent/guardian. Everyone else can sign in in

the morning. Projects will most likely consist of trail reroute construction,

log peeling for bridge preparation, campground restoration and Kautz area

rehabilitation. These assume approximately 50 people. Again, we're flexible --

although it would be helpful to know in advance how many to expect so that we

have the right number of tools ready.

 

Thanks again! We're looking forward to working with you. I'm in the office

this morning and most of Thursday and Friday, if you need anything else. See

you Saturday

 

My plan has been to have everyone be prepared to work through until 2:00. We'll provide some snacks for everyone but it would be a good idea to pack a brown bag for yourself just in case. At 2:00 we'll break for the potluck lunch and we'll provide hot dogs, buns and condiments. We ask that everyone bring a side dish. We'll take care of plates, silverware & napkins too. At that time we'll have a drawing for some prizes I've collected.

 

I'll post the consent forms to our website tonight when I get home so you can download them before hand if you want.

[+Wander Lost]

Maybe my final update before we leave for the park.

 

Misguided One plans to head over to the park mid-day and try to avoid being stuck in traffic too long with the trailer. The other reason is to try to get there before too many other campers do so we can make sure everything is cool. He'll try to get a trailer spot near the group camp that they have reserved for us. Look for a green Nissan Titan with a Outback trailer (21RS). He'll try to have something up in the site that let's you know he's a cacher.

 

When you get to the park tell the ranger at the gate you are there to volunteer with the SCA (Student Conservation Association), they are the group organizing the park wide clean-up effort. They should waive you through. If you are coming in on Friday night to camp check in with the camp host at the Cougar Rock campground. Tell them the same thing and they will direct you to the group camp or our site if you have a trailer. If you are just coming in for the day head straight to the Longmire lodge.

 

I suggest that you do bring a mid-morning snack in additon to a pot luck item. There are several different projects that we could be working on and many will take us away from the lodge area. We have several cases of water and the SCA will be providing some as well.

 

I posted the links to the release forms on the cache page. Check for them there if you want to download them in advance.