NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

INCIDENTS

Yosemite NP

All Roads Into Park Temporarily Closed Due To Storm

All roads leading into Yosemite National Park are temporarily closed due to snow, ice, mudslides, fallen trees and downed power lines. Over a 24-hour period ending yesterday morning, a winter storm dropped over three-and-a-half feet of snow in areas of the park, including Yosemite Valley, Wawona, and Crane Flat. Approximately nine inches had fallen at that time in El Portal. Highways 41 (Wawona Road), 120 (Big Oak Flat Road), and 140 (El Portal Road) into the park were closed due to snowy and icy conditions, and Caltrans had also closed Highway 140 outside of the park boundary between El Portal and Mid Pines due to mud slides, rockfall, downed power lines, and fallen trees. The Badger Pass Road and the Hetch Hetchy Road were also closed. Assessment of all roads in Yosemite was to occur throughout Monday. For 24-hour information for roads within Yosemite National Park please call 209-372-0200. For updates on conditions for roads outside of Yosemite, please call Caltrans at 1-800-427-7623. For information about reservations and accommodations, please call (801) 559-4884. [Victoria Mates, Scott Gediman and Kari Cobb]

Great Smoky Mountains NP

Missing Backpacker Reappears After Week-Long Search

A major, week-long search for missing backpacker C.H. came to a happy conclusion Sunday evening when he showed up at the Tricorner Knob shelter on the Appalachian Trail and hikers there notified park dispatch. A three-person NPS team, including two medics, immediately set out for the shelter, arriving there at 2:30 a.m. They treated C.H. for minor injuries and dehydration and provided him with warm clothing and equipment. Because of the remote location, a decision was made to evacuate C.H. on Monday by helicopter instead of via a large ground carryout operation. An NPS helicopter sent to the site was unable to land due to high winds, so a Tennessee Highway Patrol helicopter with a hoist was used instead. C.H. was lifted out, flown to the Gatlinburg-Pigeon Forge Airport, and reunited with his family. He was then taken by Sevier County ambulance to LeConte Medical Center in Sevierville for evaluation and treatment. Rangers accompanied C.H. to the hospital to debrief him on his ordeal in the Smokies. C.H. told the rangers that he'd spent the night of Monday, March 14th, at Campsite 32 as scheduled and on Tuesday hiked into Greenbrier up the Ramsey Cascades Road to the Ramsay Cascades Trail to its end at the falls. He climbed past the falls and hiked cross-country along Ramsay Prong for about half a mile, but found the going very steep, rocky, and blocked by obstructions, so he decided to make his way up towards the ridgeline instead. By Tuesday night he realized that he was off course and he camped that night with his sleeping bag and other gear. On Wednesday, he made extremely slow progress due to dense rhododendron and estimated that it had taken him six to seven hours to cover just over a half mile. At that point he decided to abandon his pack because it was continually snagging on the heavy brush, slowing his progress. He hoped that without his pack he could make faster time and reach his goal of Tricorner Shelter more easily. On Wednesday evening, he reached a relatively flat and somewhat open area, where he stayed until Sunday morning. During this time, he had only the clothes he was wearing plus a fanny pack with a little food and a headlamp - but no sleeping bag or other overnight gear. He said that he melted snow for water until Sunday, but had no other food after his small supply ran out. On Sunday morning, he set out first light; he considered going back down, but chose to continue up to the AT instead, ending up at the shelter. [Bob Miller, Public Affairs Officer]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS. To see the full text, including images, NPS employees should go to the InsideNPS home page ( HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index). Non-NPS employees can see most of them on the NPS Digest page ( HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/):

National Capital Region - NPS employees and contractors last Saturday completed the planting of a new National Christmas Tree, a month to the day after the previous National Christmas Tree was felled by high winds.

Office of Communications - Director Jarvis yesterday reaffirmed the agency's decision to deny a request by the Quiznos Pro Challenge commercial bike race to hold a stage of the race in Colorado National Monument next year.

Integrated Pest Management - The NPS Integrated Pest Management program held its annual meeting in Fort Collins, Colorado, early last December. Photo.

Office of Communications - This year's natural resource stewardship awards were announced last week at the George Wright Society Meeting in New Orleans.

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Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of Communications and the Office of the Chief Information Officer. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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