NPS Centennial

Day 317: Happy Birthday, NPS! I am happy to say that I have been a member of the Park Service family for over a tenth of its lifetime and plan to keep going as long as I can. For those of you who may have wondered, I began volunteering at Mount Rainier just slightly under forty years ago, and although there was a rather large gap in the middle of my service, I have over ten years to my credit. I have occupied my primary position for over five years, but work with a number of different Interpretive and Natural Resources programs as well as the occasional spot of Outreach or Maintenance.

Since I am called to duty for the 100th birthday celebration at Paradise, I shuffled the schedule a little so that I could visit the site of the historic Paradise Ice Caves while putting in hours for the MeadoWatch plant phenology program. The real Ice Caves are long gone, and I suspect the ones I saw in the '50s were but shabby stand-ins for those so famous in the '30s. Even fifty years ago, MORA was talking about their decline. Today, no vestige of the original Ice Caves exists. I do remember when the Paradise Glacier overhung the cliffs at my back in this photo, and when something resembling ice caves tempted stalwart (read, "foolish") climbers and hikers to enter into their depths. I was never tempted. A glimpse into the interior was sufficient warning: a maze of frozen stalactites hung from the ceiling and from every low point, painfully cold drips of water waited to fall down the back of your neck. It was not uncommon for great chunks of ice to break free and fall to the floors of the chilly tunnels.

There have been many changes on the Mountain in 100 years, both natural and administrative. Some set well with me, and others not so well. However, if I have learned one thing in the years I have spent in the Park, both as a volunteer and as a private citizen, it is that the Mountain endures. In fact, I have often referred to the great snowy presence on my horizon as "the one stable point in my universe." That familial attachment is what inspires me daily, and I am grateful beyond expression for those who strive to protect its integrity. I am proud of my Park Service family and am thrilled to be part of the celebration of the NPS Centennial.