--Last week, the Tacoma News Tribune published an article about Karen Edmundson Bean, an award-winning producer and cinematographer. Bean has put together a DVD that chronicles a series of short hikes on the north side of Mount Baker. To read more, click here.
--Hundreds of miles of backcountry roads used by outdoor enthusiasts would be closed under a new federal plan to protect grizzly bears in the Selkirk and Cabinet mountains that stretch from northeastern Washington to northwestern Montana. The draft Forest Service proposal covers portions of the Selkirk and Cabinet-Yaak Recovery Zones, two of the nation's six grizzly-bear recovery areas. The Selkirk area covers parts of northeastern Washington and north Idaho. The Cabinet-Yaak zone covers parts of north Idaho and northwestern Montana. To read more, click here.
Washington's snowpack is being seriously affected by climate change.Photo by Joyce Jones
--Climate change appears to be cutting the winter snowpack in Washington's Cascade Range by at least 20 percent, according to a researcher at the University of Washington. Rising temperatures mean more of the snow falls with a high water content, and melts and washes away long before it is needed by users in spring and summer months, the research found. To read more, click here.
Sierra:
--A significant danger has slowly been developing in the Nation's national parks and national forests. Major marijuana cultivation has been taking place in places like Yosemite National Park and North Cascades National Park. Many of these backcountry cultivation sites are protected by armed men. The backcountry traveler who accidentally comes upon such a site could face serious danger. National Public Radio ran a story on Tuesday about these sites and one in particular in Yosemite Valley. To read more, click here.
Southwest:
--Plans are underway in Joshua Tree for the development of an approximately 14-acre, eco-friendly campground featuring 22 lodgings shaped like tepees, a 16,000-square-foot reception area and a 300-acre desert tortoise preserve. The two-phase project is expected to be fully completed in eight years, but the first phase of the project should be completed in about three years, said Abel Villarreal, president of JAT Associates, the Los Angeles-based developer of the campground. To read more, click here.
Alaska:
--A climber collapsed and died of apparently natural causes on Thursday, May 7 while ascending the West Buttress of Mt. McKinley. William Hearne, age 61 of Fairport, New York, was on a on a six-member expedition which began their ascent on May 1. Hearne collapsed shortly before 4:00 p.m. after his team had hauled gear from their camp at 11,200 feet to a cache site at 13,500 feet, just above the location known as Windy Corner. Guides and NPS Rangers performed CPR on the climber for thirty minutes before Hearne was pronounced deceased after telephone consultation with the park’s physician sponsor. To read more, click here.
--After a few days of serious wind, AAI teams on Denali are on the move. Team 1 has moved up to Camp 3 at 14,200 feet and Team 2 is prepping to move to Camp 2 at 11,000 feet. The wind storm earlier this week resulted in gusts that reached 70 miles per hour at 11,000 feet and 50 miles per hour at the 7,200 foot Basecamp. To read our dispatches, click here.
--Mount Redoubt continues to have siesmic issues and is still very volitile. The following is the weekly status update from the Alaska Volcano Observatory:
The 2009 eruption of Redoubt continues. Seismicity at the volcano remains elevated, but has been slightly less intense than a few days ago when renewed explosive activity appeared imminent. Vigorous steam emissions around the margin of the lava dome are visible in web camera images today as are occasional small rock avalanches from the flanks of the lava dome. Rock avalanche activity may produce low level diffuse ash clouds that linger in the vicinity of the volcano summit, but otherwise disperse rapidly in the wind. The steam plume may contain minor amounts of ash near the volcano, but no ash has been detected in satellite or radar data.
The present lull in seismic activity may or may not be significant, and it is possible for earthquake activity to increase to higher levels at any moment. The lava dome continues to grow and remains in an unstable condition, and may collapse at any time especially if the effusion of lava into the core of the dome increases.
AVO is monitoring Redoubt volcano closely and the observatory is staffed 24/7. AVO will provide frequent updates of the volcano's status and the earliest possible warning of significant explosive activity and other hazardous phenomena.
Notes from All Over:
--It's a little known fact that a large percentage of all National Forest Land and a large percentage of all BLM land is free to rustic camping. To read more, click here.
--The Hubble space shuttle mission which launched into orbit this week is carrying a piece of mountaineering history. Astronaut John Grunsfeld is carrying one of Bradford Washburn's cameras into space so that it might be able to take a few more pictures. The now deceased Washburn was one of mountaineering's most prolific explorer's, cartographers and photographers. To read more, click here.
--The National Geographic Channels International has signed on to co-produced the new HD series First Ascent with Sender Films, slated for launch on Nat Geo Adventure in the third quarter of this year. The six-part series follows top-level athletes as they perform daring mountaineering stunts. The climbers attempt such feats such as walking tightropes across rock spires and BASE jumping off peaks in the U.S. Western Wilderness. To read more, click here and here.
--This post on rockclimbing.com is a wild piece of news. It appears that a climber was approximately 40 feet off the deck on lead in Ralph Stover State Park in Pennsylvania, when he was attacked by a raptor of some kind. The bird slammed the climber in the head, leaving multiple talon marks on his neck. This is another good reason to stay away from peregrin falcon nests while climbing. To read about this unusual accident, click here.
