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Backcountry Hiker With A Growing Reputation For Being Overdue Rescued In Glacier National Park

May 30th - 08:59am | Bob Janiskee

Few people in dire danger would knowingly choose to die rather than pay SAR fees.  However, lots of people in dangerous situations would, under the threat of hefty SAR fees, refuse to ask for (or accept) help when they really should. If you engage in very risky behavior in a desperate n attempt to avoid SAR fees, you are much more likely to die or be seriously injured.

May 30th - 08:40am | ecbuck

Bob- First, I don't believe anybody will make the decision to die rather than face paying a SAR fee sometime later.  On the otherhand, some people might be saved before the fact by not foolishly risking their lives knowing that they will face a SAR fee if they need help.

May 30th - 08:29am | Bob Janiskee

As regular readers know, the issue of whether people rescued in the national parks should be billed for search and rescue (SAR) costs has been discussed at great length in the Traveler.

May 30th - 07:46am | Anonymous

what a waste of people and resourses,i disagree with MRC,he should have to pay for the cost of the rescue,this is like tha article said ,not the first time, it is really kind of bad when you have done this before,and then the possibility of your resucers getting hurt or killed looking for somesone that is so dumb to go out in that weather..he should be fined.

May 30th - 06:58am | MRC

No one has to pay for recue operations by the NPS anwhere, for any reason. This is policy and it is a good one.

May 30th - 06:12am | Gary

Do you know if Layne has to reimburse the NPS for any of the costs of this rescue?

Federal Judge Rules A Creek Bed in Canyonlands National Park Is Not A Road

May 30th - 08:59am | Lee Dalton

Several many years ago, before Salt Creek was closed to vehicles, I took a trip down it to Angel Arch.  It was a terrific trip, but all along the way I saw places where vehicles before my little Geo Tracker had torn up vegetation and left traces of engine oil behind.  One quiet pool had a pretty good sized oil slick on it.

Bluffs Lodge Along The Blue Ridge Parkway Shuttered For 2011

May 29th - 13:56pm | Cindy

Oh no!!  We were just checking in because our plan was to use our "chicken card" and call ahead for tomorrow for some scrumptious fried chicken!  We too, like the other commenters, just LOVE Bluff's Lodge and are sad to see it closed.  I hope it is opened again soon, and that all of us will meet sometime at the fireplace, or over biscuits and jelly.

May 28th - 23:55pm | Ron and Terry

We have stayed at Bluffs Lodge every fall for over 25 years, and it has been our haven from the over-busy work world - the one place we could get back in touch with ourselves and each other.  The unique part of Bluffs Lodge was the fellowship with the other guests.  The balconies were open, so you saw your neighbors as they came and went.  And best of all was sitting on the patio in the evening

Lake Michigan Water Trail To Be Dedicated As National Recreation Trail

May 29th - 09:10am | Anonymous

You forgot to mention that 15 miles of the trail are through Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and that Portage Lakefront and Riverwalk is an NPS facility in the national lakeshore.

Updated: Unenviable List: Ozark National Scenic Riverways Ranked Among 10 Most Endangered Rivers

May 29th - 08:08am | Carolyn Dyer

Marty again another commenter who doesn't have a clue!  There are not "many" horse operations on the Jacks Fork river and I very much doubt that you had to wait for "hundreds" of horses to cross for you to be able to float.  What I hear you saying is that YOU can't enjoy yourself in the way YOU feel you should be able to because there are other users enjoying the rivers also.  Well, guess what,

May 29th - 07:57am | Carolyn Dyer

Lone Hiker I think you need to get your facts straight!  There are not 250 miles of equestrian trails within the park boundaries nor are there 80 river crossings.  My family maintains the majority of this trail system and I can accurately say that this is untrue.  There are about 250 miles of trail within the trail system near Eminence, however, the majority of these trails lie outside the park

May 26th - 12:28pm | overtaxed

the answer is community involvement, the rangers cannot do it by themselves and we will be greatly disappointed if we continue to wait for our elected officials to solve this problem or any other

May 26th - 12:26pm | overtaxed

The answer is community involvement. If we wait for our elected officials to solve these kind of problems we will continue to be greatly disappointed. If there are unauthorized horse crossings and atv accesses in the park-get a group of river cleanup volunteers to post signs and man these areas during peak times. The rangers have no hope of controlling the issue by themselves.

Too Much Snow Delaying Opening of Cedar Breaks National Monument

May 28th - 16:53pm | CJB

Visited Cedar Breaks on the way to St George , I believe, on the way back from Escalante. The road off the highway was closed so we walked along the acess road . There was pleny of snow along the road ...way over my head..in May..so this report is so on target.

May 28th - 09:45am | Jim Burnett

This is a great park that is overlooked, but snow can hang on in places for quite a while at Cedar Breaks.

National Park Road Trip 2011: Sequoia National Park's Wuksachi Lodge

May 27th - 22:34pm | y_p_w

I have fond memories of staying at a Giant Forest Village cabin. It was the first time we'd ever seen a bear, and I can admit (now that any statute of limitations is long over) that it was probably due to a member of my family. I think they had grills and each porch had a free-standing cabinet to temporarily store stuff. Well - a family member decided to store sliced bread in the cabinet.

May 27th - 15:46pm | Sarah

Thanks for visiting! If you have any questions at all about Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks to assist you in your guidebook preparation, feel free to email me. I lived in the parks as a child and these days my husband and I own and publish the weekly newspaper in Three Rivers, Calif., Sequoia's gateway community. I know and love this area well.

National Park Road Trip 2011: North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park

May 27th - 09:31am | Anonymous

Great videos! The North Rim is awesome, even with snow!

Reader Participation Day: What Would You Like To See On National Park Websites?

May 27th - 01:21am | Anonymous

A one-click link to all electronic documents that are online pertaining to that particular park.  While this information is available on the NPS History E-Library, having an icon that one can click on that would automatically do a search of all pertinent documents for this park would be quite handy for research purposes.

May 26th - 21:03pm | Ranger Anne

As another ranger who had web duties (amongst many other projects) thanks for all the good comments about the NPS webpages. For those folks suggesting Google maps, there are some issues about using them which hopefully will get straightened out. I know I'll try and use some of your great ideas to improve my own park's webpage.

May 26th - 11:27am | Kurt Repanshek

Anonymous, Difficult to obtain maps? Today's on-line options make it fairly easy, though I'll agree it's certainly not like the instant gratification you get from going to a website and downloading the map in question.

May 26th - 11:20am | Anonymous

Ranger Bill -- thank you for all your work.  Despite its overwhelming nature, you and others like you continue to provide yeoman service for all of us. And Danny, yes, but obtaining maps from those organizations is difficult and takes weeks some times.

May 26th - 11:00am | Don Gillespie

Because our trips usually include our children, I would appreciate up-to-date information on Junior Ranger programs. Sometimes these are sites are good, sometimes they don't even mention whether they have a junior ranger program or not.

May 26th - 09:05am | Danny Bernstein

Thanks for all suggestions and comments. They show that we really do use the park website and scour them thoroughly. Some (most??) of the information requested is available from the park's cooperative partners, like the Great Smoky Mountains Association or the Yosemite Association. They publish maps and books in great detail.

May 25th - 21:46pm | Ranger Bill

Lots of good comments here. As webmaster for my park (which will remain nameless) I would like to make everyone happy. Sadly, there are things I can't change. One of the biggest is the structure or heirarchy. It's pretty much set in stone, the maps will always be three clicks away.

May 25th - 21:21pm | Lee Dalton

Anonymous at 12:18 -- beside the captcha box are three red symbols.  Click the top one and the captcha image changes.  Sometimes you have to click two or three times, but if you're patient one will finally pop up that even my old eyes can read. (I just had to do it this time.  One click.)

May 25th - 14:09pm | Noel

Have something like Google Maps where you can pick a spot and see the view from there, and take a virtual tour. Mainly, though, I'd like up-to-date weather, such as Accuweather or Weather.com provides.

May 25th - 14:04pm | Brad

Oh, and the range in altitude for each unit would be nice, minimum elevation from sea level to highest elevation. In other words, all this geographical & tourist info that can be researched online to be in one concise place at nps.gov for every unit.  That would be awesome.

May 25th - 13:53pm | Brad

I'd like for all the Parks to consistently show statistics, such as park acreage and average visitation as well as number of miles of park roadways and hiking trails.

May 25th - 13:31pm | ally s

1. Photos.  Most parks now have the "Photos and Multimedia" link on the left, but they do not all use this... 2. Webcams!  Glacier NP has a whole page of these. 3. Jobs.  The park could easily at a minimum, explain that park jobs are listed on usajobs.gov and provide a link.  Or even better, they could actually list current positions w/such links.

May 25th - 13:18pm | Anonymous

A list of all units of multi-unit sites. Ironically, after venting about the difficulty of using the NPS website--often down for maintenance, bad links, removed pages--the Traveler website wouldn't let me post (the captcha is too difficult in event the moderators haven't been told this enough.

May 25th - 13:12pm | Anonymous

A list of all "units" for multi-unit parks (such as Jean Lafitte).

May 25th - 12:33pm | Badge529

Lodging, camping and better map access.

May 25th - 11:10am | Dottie

Legible maps when downloaded for .pdf files; when a whole park is crowded on one page it is very difficult to read.  Also, lots and lots of webcams!

May 25th - 09:36am | Carol B

Definitely agree on the maps issue.  The maps app was changed last year [I think] ... and it is really bad now! The NPS websites are invaluable to planning our hiking vacations.  I rely on them so much, and everything on the sites is really appreciated.  More photos maybe?  Allow travelers to upload 1 or 2?  I'm a photo-phreak!

NPCA Leading Petition Drive To Protect Funding for National Parks

May 26th - 13:37pm | Morgan C. Dodd

Congress and the Presidents over the years have created the National Park System.  On behalf of the American people, and millions of international visitors who support our tourism economy, Congress and the President need to ensure that the natural and cultural resources within our National Parks will be protected for future generations.

Man Missing for Four Days in Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve is Found Alive

May 26th - 12:56pm | Ranger

Very puzzling story. I hope you will update us as more information emerges about how such an apparently intelligent and methodical person managed to get lost and stay lost for so long in the presence of such an intense search effort.

Fans of Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Being Asked to Contribute Ideas to Lakeshore's Future

May 26th - 11:45am | Dirty boots

We would use Central Beach more often if it were clothing optional.  The beach is wondeful.  Dogs allowed is nice.  Clothing optional would be fantastic.  We visit Mazo beach in Wisconsin.  Great nude beach.  Central beach would be closer.  Please consider make Central Beach clothing optional.

Grand Teton National Park Urging Motorists To Slow Down and Watch Out For Wildlife

May 26th - 11:25am | Lee Dalton

Slow down?  How do you expect us to do that?  If we do, we won't make our goal of quality visits to seventeen parks in five days.  Our bumper sticker collection will never be completed.

May 26th - 09:40am | Anonymous

What are tourists driving so fast for? You're all going to miss the view!!! It's gorgeous out there slow down for the safety of the animals that you are hoping to see and photograph and the well being of other tourists as well as the people who live there. Respect the animals and the people. It's takes COMMON SENSE; something our country is lacking in right now!

Fatal Fall from Angels Landing in Zion National Park

May 26th - 06:05am | Anonymous

My husband and I just returned from our hike to the summit of Angels Landing.  After reading the above accounts I'm glad we waited till late, even though it meant walking the last mile back in the dark.  We started our hike at around 6 pm so by the time we got to the last .5 mile, there were only a few people left anywhere on the mountain, and they were all headed back down.  We actually had th

Fort Stanwix National Monument Presents Historic Artifacts From 19th Century, Including A Chamber Pot of Questionable Taste

May 25th - 21:38pm | Lee Dalton

Ah, ha!  Google is wonderful! That chamber pot isn't really much different from the emblems seen frequently in the back windows of pickup trucks.

May 25th - 21:22pm | Lee Dalton

Those scoundrels!

Poaching Charges Pending In Case of Majestic Bull Elk Killed at Great Smoky Mountains National Park

May 25th - 21:01pm | Anonymous

I think the penalty should be atleast the cost to replace him with 2 or 3 bulls of like status. It is because of people like him the true hunters of n.c. will never get to hunt in n.c.. Throw the book at him.

Tornado Destroys Great Blue Heron Rookery At Mississippi National River and Recreation Area

May 25th - 19:43pm | Erin D.

Very touching, the people calling to check on the birds. Thanks for sharing the story, Kirb.

May 25th - 10:21am | Kirby Adams

One of the things that surprised the wildlife rehab folks in Minnesota was that many people who had lost property or even been injured themselves in the storm were still calling in to check on the toll on animals. I think it's cathartic at times for people who have suffered personal loss to turn around and care about something that may seem insignificant. It's also a testament to E.O.

You Won't Be Able To Drive Trail Ridge Road End-to-End Through Rocky Mountain National Park Memorial Day Weekend

May 25th - 09:43am | Carol B

All that snow!  Must be due to that global warming theory.  LOL

Take Traveler With You On Your Next National Park Trip

May 25th - 09:32am | Carol B

Sounds like a fun idea - looking forward to the Android app! But I'll still always drag the laptop with us - when taking 1000's of photos, I can't wait to see them and upload our trips to Facebook and Flickr!

National Park Road Trip 2011: Zion Lodge

May 25th - 09:29am | Carol B

One of our favorite trips in '09 was to Zion. We didn't stay at the Lodge - but now I'm disappointed we did not.  We stayed in town.  I was too sure about the use of the trolley thru the park, but this was a fantastic idea of the park.  Cant imagine 1,000s of cars up and down that road. We stopped at the lodge ....

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