Adventure-Crew.com

Recently there have been a number of deaths reported in the National Parks. Some are animal related and some are falls. How do these things happen? Well, in some cases the person ignored a “Do Not Pass This Barrier” safety sign or a warning to carry bear spray. But, sometimes things happen beyond your control and hopefully these tips will help improve your chances of enjoying your outdoor adventure while getting back home safely.

First and foremost, when you get to the park or wilderness area where you are going, check at any ranger station or visitor center for current safety issues that are pertinent for the areas you will be visiting. The rangers and staff are there to help in any way they can and are very willing to answer any questions you may have. It is also helpful to have checked the park out ahead of time for anything that could be a red flag for whatever activity you wish to pursue. In other words, plan ahead.

Secondly, never backpack or climb alone in the wilderness. Even in “civilized” parks, it is not advised. If something were to happen to one of you, the other one could go for help. Admittedly, this is not always the best option, but if there is no hope of someone seeing a signal or ever finding you accidentally, this is the next best procedure. Maybe if you were trained in wilderness survival, you might make it fine on your own, but remember the guy who got his hand caught in a boulder and ended up cutting it off just to survive and get out of the canyon? He was not a novice, but he had gone alone and not told a soul where he would be over the weekend. Solitude is all well and good, but not if you don’t survive your solo trek or climb.

This brings up my next point. Make sure you tell someone where you are going and when they can expect you back. This will go a long way towards getting someone to rescue you, if you need it, providing you tell a reliable person. The parks do not always have the personnel to follow-up on missing backpackers unless someone says something to them. As far as they are concerned, you could have just forgotten to check back in with them or gone home another way. There was another incident of a man in Alaska that went camping alone and never told anyone. He was two weeks over his wilderness permit expiration before they even started looking for him. No one ever reported him missing. To my knowledge, he was never found. His tent was, but not him.

Next, follow the safety rules for that park or wilderness. Some places, like up in Alaska, you are warned up front that you are on your own and you will need to rescue yourself, but even some places in the lower 48 tell you the same thing. If you are told that an area has a high avalanche risk at the time you are there, don’t head out for that area. And if you just HAVE to go that way because it has the best scenery, ice fishing, ice climbing, or trailheads, then you had better be familiar with strategies to either avoid or face an avalanche. (Use swimming strokes, grab a sturdy tree, best is take a course!) Or if an area is a high fire risk, DO NOT light campfires and be very careful with your camp stove. You get the idea.

Really, just use common sense and know your limitations. If this will be a first for you, then by all means, take along someone who knows what they are doing or has proficiency in the activity. I realize that sometimes we don’t know our own limitations which is another reason to take someone with you. Go easy your first time doing a new activity and you will lessen your risk factor. Obey any warning signs you come across. They are there for a reason!

Make sure you have a good first aid kit and be familiar with what is in it and how to use everything. If you will be in an area where you know there are a lot of venomous snakes, bring a venom extractor. I also like to bring some hydrogen peroxide in a small container as this works great for cleaning out wounds to help prevent infection. It is also great to gargle with half peroxide and half water if you wake up with a sore throat one morning. It almost always works to eliminate the sore throat. Know the signs and symptoms for hypothermia and altitude sickness and also how to avoid and treat them.

Avoid wild animals when you can. Elk are dangerous during the rut season in the autumn. They are extremely aggressive at this time. Bears are generally shy, but those that are acclimated to humans can be aggressive. You will not be able to outrun a bear, so it is better to avoid them and definitely keep your distance. Moose are also potentially dangerous if stirred up, so walk and talk softly around them and let them know you are not a threat. Unlike bears, it is OK to run away from moose, but you might want to put some thing solid, like a tree, between you and them. We have a good Wildlife Precautions page on our website that has more tips about animals.

Lastly, have adequate supplies for your trip. It is better to have your pack just a little too heavy and have adequate food, bandages, clothing for the weather, water purification stuff, rain gear, compass, GPS unit, topographical maps (and know how to read them), signal mirror or whistle,  repair kits, and a length of rope. If you do become lost or injured and you are by yourself and can’t make it back, know that bright signals or objects placed in sequence of three are widely recognized as distress signs.

By Corie Marks

TOM VOGT, The Columbian

VANCOUVER, Wash. (AP) — An era ended at midnight Wednesday when military operations ceased at Vancouver Barracks.

After 162 years as a U.S. Army base during some defining periods of American history, the barracks site is preparing for a new role. It is destined to become part of the National Park Service, which operates the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site.

The midnight transition was another step in that process, as well as part of an initiative to restructure the nation’s military facilities.

Soldiers doing some final clean-up chores provided the only Army presence Wednesday at Vancouver Barracks.

“We will no longer be occupying Vancouver Barracks. Today, we’re clearing the buildings, making sure the Army Reserve units have moved out and left the buildings in good condition,” Scott McKean said Wednesday morning.

McKean, a civilian employee of the U.S. Army Reserves, is coordinator for the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) program in Washington, Oregon and Montana.

Army Reserve and National Guard units that were based at the historic site have set up operations in a new military center in Sifton, 15005 N.E. 65th Ave., just south of Fourth Plain Boulevard.

“About 1,000 soldiers moved from the barracks to the new Armed Forces Reserve Center,” McKean said. “The move has been gradual over the last month and a half.”

After several previous reductions, the Vancouver Barracks site consists of 33 acres and 28 buildings, including 20 that are categorized as historic buildings, he said.

Tracy Fortmann, superintendent of the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site, said the park service recognizes the responsibility — as well as the opportunity — that comes with the transition.

“For us, it’s an honor,” Fortmann said. “For our veterans and military retirees, it’s the loss of a post that’s been here their entire lives. Even so, Vancouver Barracks is not lost. It’s our role to keep that story alive.”

One of those veterans recognizes the reality of the transition because he’s been part of it. Bob Knight, now president of Clark College, was the final commander of Vancouver Barracks.

When Knight arrived as a lieutenant colonel in February 1997, “the active duty presence had gone down to a dozen people,” he said.

“We knew the day was coming. I started the closure when I deactivated the barracks in August 2000. We allowed the Reserves to take it, and turned the West Barracks over to the city,” said Knight, whose 3½-year command ended in October 2000.

“The departure of the U.S. Army from the Fort Vancouver National Site after more than 160 years is an outcome we have come to accept with regret,” Elson Strahan, president and CEO of the Fort Vancouver National Trust, said in an email. The national trust is a partner in the transition.

“Clearly, the historical importance of the site is rooted deeply in the Army’s presence for more than a century and a half. When the site was congressionally chartered in 1996, it was envisioned that the Army would remain an active partner, but world events and the required flexibility of our U.S. military changed that assumption,” Strahan wrote.

There still are a few steps — and several other agencies — in the transition, McKean said.

For the immediate future, “it goes into a caretaker status,” said McKean, who also is coordinating a dozen other base closures in Washington, Oregon and Montana.

The Army has a target date of Nov. 1 for relinquishing the Vancouver Barracks property to the Bureau of Land Management, which eventually will transfer it to the National Park Service, McKean said.

There also is another partner in the process.

“The Army Corps of Engineers is the real estate agent for the Army, and works with transfers and ownership of land,” McKean said.

People who want some fresh air or a place for a stroll will continue to have access to the barracks grounds, said Bill Schell, who oversees operations.

“People will be able to walk through,” Schell said. “We will keep an eye on homeless activity, and we will be vigilant until it is transferred.

“We still have some projects to complete, like redoing the gutter system at the auditorium,” Schell said. “We are trying to get the buildings ready to be turned over in good shape.”

Other resources linked to the site are less tangible: the stories of the people who served there. Some historical figures — Ulysses S. Grant, O.O. Howard and George Marshall — have buildings bearing their names. But they’re not the only ones who contributed.

“From the many iconic leaders such as Marshall, Grant and Howard who were posted here, to the thousands of troops who served our nation as they were stationed at and deployed from this site, we owe a true debt of gratitude,” Strahan said.

Knight ran into plenty of those folks as barracks commander.

“People would come by all the time and tell me stories,” Knight said.

Some represented more than one era of history, including Nez Perce elder Horace Axtell. Axtell is a tribal spiritual leader who participates in an annual reconciliation ceremony at Fort Vancouver, commemorating the 1878 death of a Nez Perce child at the fort.

“Horace told me that as a young soldier, he deployed through Vancouver Barracks on his way to the Pacific,” Knight said. “There was a tremendous amount of history that went through Vancouver Barracks.”

Information from: The Columbian, http://www.columbian.com

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.

Cannons at Wilson's Creek-NPS Photo

News-Leader.com

Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield will once again participate in “National Public Lands Day” on Saturday, Sept. 24. The National Park Service will join other Department of Interior agencies, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Forest Service to waive entrance fees as an opportunity for citizens to experience public-owned lands.

A variety of cleanup projects are planned around the battlefield. Some of the areas needing attention include the picnic area, hiking trails and trash clean up along State Highway ZZ bordering the battlefield.

Volunteers are asked to arrive at 8:30 a.m. in order to organize into work groups. Volunteers should wear appropriate outdoor work clothes including sturdy shoes, a hat and work gloves. Work would last from 9 a.m. until early afternoon. Anyone who volunteers on National Public Lands Day will receive a free one-day pass valid for a future use at a National Park site.

Additional information on National Public Lands Day can be found at www.publiclandsday.org.

Administered by the National Park Service, Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield preserves the site of the first major engagement of the Civil War in the West. The site is considered to be one of the best-preserved battlefields in the National Park System. The battlefield is located 10-miles southwest of Springfield, at the intersection of Highway ZZ and Farm Road 182.

For more information, call 417-732-2662.