--A teenage boy who fatally shot a hiker last summer while bear hunting on Sauk Mountain was sentenced Friday to 30 days in juvenile detention plus probation and community service that includes talking to hunting-safety students about what he did. To read more, click here.
--On Saturday, friends and family mourned the loss of Mary Cooper and Susanna Stodden by making a memorial walk around Green Lake in Seattle. The pair were murdered on the Pinnacle Lake trail near Mount Pilchuck three years ago. To date nobody has been arrested or charged with the crime. To watch a report on the walk and about the murders, please click on the video link below:
--A climber rescued by helicopter after spending four nights stranded in the North Cascades said Thursday that he was looking forward to brushing his teeth. Jason Schilling, 33, spent his time in a small cave on a rock face of 8,031-foot Mount Terror, about 24 miles east of Mount Baker. The Corvallis, Ore., man was stranded there until Thursday after he stayed behind to help his injured climbing partner, Steve Trent, who was rescued Sunday by helicopter. To read more, click here.
Protesters are trying to block timber removal from the Elliott State Forest.Sierra:
--The New York Times ran an excellent obituary on free soloist John Bachar last week. To read it, click here. John was killed while free soloing the Dike Wall above Mammoth Lakes on July 5th.
--In order to pay for maintenance of campgrounds, picnic areas and other amenities in the Red’s Meadow area, Forest Service Staff has proposed raising the day use fee for those who drive in. Right now, when you take the mandatory shuttle bus from Mammoth to Red’s Meadow, you pay $7 for an adult and $4 for a child. This fee stays the same. The bus is mandatory for most visitors, but there are exceptions. If you do drive one of these, “exception vehicles,” the fee could go up to $10 per vehicle. To read more, click here.
Notes from All Over:
--Fourteen hikers were killed last week in the Chongqing Municipality of China. The hikers were in the lower reaches of a flood-formed river in the Tanzhangxia Canyon scenic spot, Wanzhou District when waters rose. To read more, click here.
--A man died after his car plunged 600 feet off the edge of the Grand Canyon's South Rim at 6:00 am on Monday morning. Park officials have not yet determined that this incident was a suicide. To read more, click here.
--AAI guide Mary Harlan and Jason Brown completed a first ascent on the North Rim of the Black Canyon of Gunnison this week. Road Head is a six pitch 5.10 route that climbs a prominent feature in the canyoin. To read more about this ascent, click here.
--The National Parks Foundation just launched the first-ever Your Parks Video Challenge. Participants have to film their personalized experience at a national park this summer for the potential to win a variety of prizes. To read more, click here.
National Park Services Director, Jon Jarvis
Dave Turner's Camp on Baffin IslandPhoto by Dave Turner
--Last week a trip report was posted on supertopo.com that ranks up there as one of the best trip reports we've seen. Dave Turner did a solo trip to Baffin Island to do some serious climbing and his story and photos from that adventure are absolutely great. To read the story, click here.
Skiing on Baffin IslandPhoto by Dave Turner
--The National Park Service just closed the popular Jumbo Rocks camping area in Joshua Tree National Park for terrifying reasons -- swarming bees. Officials have closed the spot until August 10, unless bee activity diminishes. To read more, click here.
--Last week, after a year of training, the largest group of blind climbers and the youngest blind climber set two world records successfully summiting Mt. Kilimanjaro. To read more, click here.
First Camel Ascents are a bit Uncommon--Environmentalists using park service rock anchors scaled Mount Rushmore last week and unfurled a banner along President Abraham Lincoln's face challenging America's leaders to stop global warming. To read more, click here. The following video shows Greenpeace activists rappelling down Mount Rushmore to place the banner:
