Adventure-Crew.com

Submitted by Kurt Repanshek on September 21, 2011 – 1:36am
National Parks Traveler.com

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from Glacier Bay National Park, outside of glaciers, of course. But it didn’t take long to realize this Alaskan park is a birder’s paradise. From the “poor man’s puffin” to dwindling numbers of Kittlitz’s murrelets, I was rewriting my birding success.

And not in days, but in minutes.

“Did you see all the young Glaucous-winged gull (Larus glaucescens) chicks?,” park Ranger Linda Lieberman asked as we sat on the day-cruise ship Baranof Wind just off South Marble Island. “For those of you who want to see Common Murre (Uria aalge), the light is shining on them over here.”

Not only were there Glacous-winged gulls and Common Murre — an upright standing auk that, with its snow-white chest and belly, resembles a penquin — but also Horned Puffins (Fratercula corniculata), Tufted Puffins (Fratercula cirrhata), Marbled murrelets (Brachyramphus marmoratus), an occasional Kittlitz’s murrelet (Brachyramphus brevirostris), and Black-legged Kittiwakes (Rissa tridactyla).

And it wasn’t even 10 a.m. yet.

Birds teem to Glacier Bay, thanks in no small part to its nutrient-rich waters — and insect-filled skies and seed-bearing forests in summer and early fall — along with its plentiful, and diverse, breeding habitat. Bird habitat in the park ranges from rocky slopes revealed in the not-too-distant past by receding glaciers to coastal rain forest and muskeg landscapes. In slender arms of the park’s waters, such as in Dundas Bay, extreme tidal fluctuations help churn up and reveal meals for many species. And the fact that the Pacific flyway makes a beeline across the park doesn’t hurt the overall species diversity, either.

There are an estimated 240 bird species in the park, and it seems like you see most of them on a day cruise from Bartlett Cove to South Marble Island 15 miles north and on towards Johns Hopkins and Tarr inlets, roughly 50 more miles of water up bay.

The surrounding landscape makes it tought to stay focused on birding. Horizon-stretching isn’t entirely an apt description, as from the deck of a boat the mountains seem to close in overhead, leaving a narrow patch of sky above. These are the sort of mountains you might pull from a Jack London novel or a passage from a James Michener or John McPhee book — rugged and heavily treed, laced in the morning by threads of cloud, and roamed by brown bears, wolves, wolverines and mountain goats. As a result, you want to scan the shorelines not just for birds, but for goats on the cliffs and brown bears fishing for salmon or tumbling rocks to get at the critters that lie beneath.

And no matter where you’re pointing your binoculars, once you hear the sharp report of ice calving from a glacier, you immediately look up to locate the new berg.

While terrestrial birders spend much of their time scanning trees, bushes, and even power lines for birds, in Glacier Bay you’re looking down onto the water’s surface to see what might be bobbing along at least as much as gazing overhead to see what might be wheeling over your boat.

South Marble Island arguably is the high point for day birders thanks to the rich variety of species to be spotted there. We spotted Common Murres and Pelagic Cormorants (Phalacrocorax pelagicus) clinging to the island’s rocky cliffs, tried to freeze-frame puffins zipping by through the air, watched murrelets dive for snacks, and looked up at the Kittiwakes and Mew gulls circling the ship to get a closer look at these odd beings floating on the bay and staring at the island.

The Marbled murrelets were particularly vexing, as they bobbed calmly on the water’s surface right up until the minute I aimed my camera at them. Then I was left with a swirl of water in my viewfinder as the birds had dived down and swam away with their strong wing-strokes.

But South Marble was far from the only place to go birding in Glacier Bay.

In August, bald eagles are readily visible, many with mottled fledglings in nests. During a short hike on Gloomy Knob we peered down into an abandoned nest that an eagle, perhaps confused, had built in the grass instead of in a tree. We could hear the sharp piping of a pair of eaglets in a more traditional nest, and a few moments later mom, or perhaps dad, came winging by on what we assumed was a lunch run.

Kayaking towards Margerie Glacier a little later during a week spent in the park we encountered Arctic Terns (Sterna paradisaea) and inqusitive Common Terns (Sterna hirundo), more Glaucous-winged gulls and Kittikwakes, and Pigeon Guillemots (Cepphus columba).

As the week went on we came upon what we could only figure to be a pair of Northern Harriers (Circus cyaneus) and some Black Oystercatchers (Haematopus bachmani) with their bright red, over-sized beaks seemingly guarding the mouth of Tidal Inlet.

Further on into the inlet we paddled towards hundreds of Black scoters (Melanitta nigra) — also called the “poor man’s puffin” by some for its somewhat colorful beak — in a raft stretching halfway across the inlet. The next day we counted Green-winged Teal (Anas crecca), somewhat small (compared to the Canada version) Brant goose (Branta bernicla), and a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) in Fingers Bay, while exploration of an arm of Dundas Bay the following morning produced more bald eagles.

As our trip was mostly on the water, we didn’t get to wander deep into the forests that rim the bay and climb the mountains cupping its waters. But among the terrestrial birds that flit among those forests are pine siskins, redpoles, magpies, winter wrens, and ubiquitous chickadees. A Steller’s jay raucously announced himself during a short foray we made into the muskeg forest off Dundas Bay.

A week is not enough time to come close to cataloging the park’s birds through your binoculars. There are several varieties of warblers, common Robins, versions of plovers, ptarmigan, grosbeaks, grebes, loons, and phalaropes and that’s just a short list of what we didn’t see.

But a week in Glacier Bay is plenty of time to check off dozens of species on your life list.

Submitted by Bob Janiskee on September 20, 2011 – 2:59am
National Parks Traveler.com

Cosmopolitan Bathhouse & Saloon

Back in the 1870s and 1880s, tourists who endured the long, bone-jarring ride to Yosemite Valley could enjoy some surprising amenities at the valley’s Cosmopolitan Bathhouse & Saloon. Although this unusual establishment disappeared into history 127 years ago, it left a remarkable legacy and a story well worth telling.

Concerned about the impacts of overgrazing, logging, mining, and other threats to the Yosemite area’s exceptional beauty and geologic resources, Congress set the land aside as a park in 1864 and gave it to the state of California to administer. This was eight years before Congress made Yellowstone America’s first national park (there being no state of Wyoming to turn the park over to), but well into the age of mass communication and aggressive tourism promotion and development. Within just a few decades, people throughout California and all over America learned about the wonders of Yosemite and developed a yen to visit the place. The transfer to state management in 1864, the end of the Civil War in 1865, the completion of the transcontinental railroad (1869), the construction of wagon roads to the Yosemite region, and other factors combined to create a Yosemite Valley tourism industry that grew at a rapid clip.

Yosemite’s hospitality industry began to take shape in the late 1850s and 1860s with the construction of several primitive lodging facilities, including Clark’s Station (1857) at Wawona, and Lower Hotel (1859) and Upper Hotel (later Hutchings House) in the valley. Transportation improvements and recreational infrastructure development also occurred at a fairly rapid rate during the 1860s and 70s. By the mid-1870s, Yosemite sported several privately-developed trails for horse and mule rides (few people were interested in hiking back then) and was served by toll roads that extended all the way into the valley. No railroad served Yosemite at that time, but a person living in San Francisco or Oakland could travel to Yosemite in about a day and a half if s/he was willing to endure a punishing ride on wagon roads and (prior to 1874) complete the last leg of the trip into the valley on a horse or mule. In those early days, a visit to Yosemite Valley (aka Yo-Semite Valley) was only for hardy, adventuresome people.

While riding trails and various other tourist-oriented enterprises opened up in Yosemite Valley during the 1860s, the valley still lacked decent lodging and related hospitality amenities as the decade drew to a close. Seeing a golden opportunity, John C. Smith constructed a building that introduced a new standard of quality when it was completed in 1871. Officially called the Cosmopolitan Bathhouse & Saloon (isn’t that a grand name?), but known simply as the Cosmopolitan, Smith’s establishment offered Yosemite visitors two prime amenities — hot or cold baths at any time of the day or night, plus a very well-stocked bar (Smith’s mint juleps were a favorite).

The clientele included some campers, but consisted mostly of well-heeled easterners, Californians, and foreigners lodging at the valley’s inns. All appreciated the Cosmopolitan’s special amenities, which included fine glassware, carpeted baths, full-length mirrors, delicate bath soaps, clean towels and linens, full-size billiard tables, a barber service, a ladies’ parlor, a gentlemen’s reading room, and even up-to-date newspapers. How all of the fragile stuff could have been hauled into the valley without breaking it, especially on the rugged 20-mile final approach, doubtlessly mystified many customers.

Yosemite Valley visitors very much needed the comforts that the Cosmopolitan offered. The visitor register that was kept on the Cosmopolitan’s porch beginning in 1873 contains liberal mention of miseries arising from dusty roads, insect bites, sick horses, foul weather, isolation, and various other afflictions. After long, wearying days of travel and sightseeing, perhaps in association with the discomforts of camping, imagine how happy Cosmopolitan customers were to have a libation to clear the dust from their throat, a bath to wash the dirt from their hide, and maybe a go at the billiards table to make them feel even more civilized.

By 1876, Yosemite was attracting nearly 2,000 visitors a year, most of whom stayed in the valley for several weeks at a time. At that time the valley had three nondescript inns — Black’s Hotel, Leidig’s Hotel, and the Coulter and Murphy Hotel (former Hutchings House/ Upper Hotel). The Cosmopolitan, which was located across the road from the latter, enjoyed a brisk trade. None of the valley’s rather primitive hotels offered amenities like those of the comparatively elegant Cosmopolitan. And except for the firefall (introduced by James McCauley in the 1870s), there were no significant competing diversions after the sun went down.

The valley’s lodging industry began shifting to a more modern footing in the 1870s and 1880s. Older structures underwent renovations and added new services. Prime examples of upgrading included the Yosemite Falls Hotel (later the Sentinel Hotel) in the Old Village area adjacent to the Cosmopolitan and the La Casa Nevada (between Vernal and Nevada Falls).

The Cosmopolitan remained a going concern into the early 1880s, enjoying a national reputation as a “must” stop for Yosemite Valley visitors. Many a Yosemite newbie was eager to add the Cosmopolitan to his “been there, done that” list.

An impressive number of impressive folks enjoyed the Cosmopolitan’s comforts. The visitor register, which is now in the Yosemite Museum, bears the comments and autographs of such notables as John Muir, Rudyard Kipling, William Randolph Hearst, Lillie Langtry, William ‘Buffalo Bill” Cody, and Presidents Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, and James Garfield. (Theodore Roosevelt signed the register in 1903, long after the Cosmopolitan closed its doors.)

Unfortunately, the Cosmopolitan was forced out of business after a successful run of only 13 years. The State Board of Commissioners closed it down in 1884, just six years before Congress established Yosemite National Park. The commissioners had decided that any saloon in Yosemite would have to be operated in conjunction with a hotel.

The building that housed the Cosmopolitan was put to other uses for nearly half a century, but finally burned down on December 8, 1932. Today, few visitors know that the Cosmopolitan ever existed.

Postscript: A forthcoming Traveler article will provide additional information about the Cosmopolitan’s remarkable visitor register, the Grand Register of Yo-Semite Valley.

Written by Joyce Kuzmanic
stgnews.com

NATIONAL PARKS –National Public Lands Day is next Saturday, Sept. 24, and offers fee free entry into national parks.

The fee waiver extends to individual entrance as well as commercial tour entrance fees but does not include fees for camping, special permits, reservations, tours or use of concessions. It also does not cover fees for extended stay beyond Sept. 24 entry.

National Public Lands Day began in 1994 and is intended to encourage shared stewardship of our nation’s public lands. Today, NPLD is the nation’s largest hands-on volunteer effort to improve and enhance federal, state and local public lands.

Grand Canyon National Park, Zion National Park  and Bryce Canyon National Park are all offering the fee free entry Saturday.

In Grand Canyon National Park, volunteers and park staff will be working with the park’s Vegetation Program on native plant restoration and exotic plant control.

To learn more about National Public Lands Day, please visit the NPLD web site.

Yosemite Trail, yourcaliforniashow.com

YourCaliforniashow.com

Yosemite National Park, Calif. — Nearly 75 miles of hiking trails and habitat in Yosemite National Park have been restored in the largest ever trail repair project undertaken in the park.

“Our goal was elegant in its simplicity – improve the condition of Yosemite’s most treasured, high-profile trails in order to protect irreplaceable natural resources,” said Mike Tollefson, president of Yosemite Conservancy. “Yosemite’s spectacular trails are a mirror of the democratic notion of the National Park Service’s founding – they exist for all people for all time.”

Repairs were done to 33 miles of the John Muir Trail, from Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley.  The improvements include new stone walls, rock staircases, drainage structures and habitat restoration.  Repairs were also made to the John Muir Trailhead in Yosemite Valley and to the east and west ends of the Yosemite Valley Loop Trail.  Repairs were made to foot bridges and new signage was added.

Along Tioga Road, improvements were made to trailheads at Tamarack Flat, May Lake, Yosemite Creek/Ten Lakes, Snow Creek and Gaylor Lakes.  Safer parking was added to some of the trailheads, as well as food storage lockers and wilderness education exhibits.

“Yosemite’s trails are pathways to discovery and inspiration. Some of the park’s most important trails were improved to reverse years of degradation to benefit visitors for decades,” said Superintendent Don Neubacher. “The result is better trails, restored habitats and greater education opportunities for visitors.”

The $13.5 million restoration campaign was a collaboration between Yosemite Conservancy and the park, with Conservancy donors contributing $10.5 million.

“Improvements were made to trails for every type of visitor from families with small children to ardent backcountry enthusiasts,” said John Dorman, Yosemite Conservancy board chairman. “These arteries provide access to unimaginable beauty and a life-time of memories.”

Royal Robbins, a climber and a Yosemite Conservancy council member, said, “Yosemite’s landscape harbors an unforgettable grand collection of peaks, domes, high waterfalls and alpine meadows. The best way to see these natural wonders is by trail.”

The completion of the six-year Campaign for Yosemite Trails was celebrated last week with a ceremonial dedication of the East Valley Loop Trail and recognition of the donors and Yosemite trail crews.

Petrified Forest National Park

Boston.com

PHOENIX – The federal government is gaining control over an even larger expanse of rainbow-colored petrified wood, fossils from the dawning age of dinosaurs and petroglyphs left by American Indian tribes who once lived in eastern Arizona.

The National Park Service secured the first major private ranch within the Petrified Forest National Park boundaries yesterday, capping off negotiations that began years ago with the help of a conservation group. Scientists say they are eager to explore the more than 26,000 acres that have remained largely untouched and discover even more treasures.

“The opportunity to actually go out into an area that hasn’t been worked before by other researchers, the opportunity to find things that are truly new to science – there’s a very good chance of that, so it’s pretty exciting,’’ said Bill Parker, a paleontologist at the park. “I think we’re definitely going to be able to find some things that are new out there that are really going to enhance the story of the park.’’

Congress expanded the boundaries of the park in 2004 from 93,500 acres to about 218,500 acres but did not immediately appropriate any money to buy the private holdings. The funding for land purchases came years later through a federal land protection program. The Park Service now has acquired about a third of the 120,000 acres it wants, with the most significant acreage coming from a transfer of US Bureau of Land Management land and yesterday’s $8 million purchase of the Paulsell Ranch within the park boundaries.

Mike Ford, the Southwest director for the Conservation Fund, said he began a quest to acquire the land for the Park Service in 1999 at the request of Bruce Babbitt, a former interior secretary. Ford recalled driving around in a pickup with the landowner, Marvin Hatch, surveying the land and trying to strike a deal that the two never quite agreed on. Hatch’s family contacted Ford after Hatch died to continue the talks.

The Park Service expects to spend a few years doing inventory on the land before it decides how the public can best enjoy it, Parker said. Some 630,000 people visit the park each year.