Sunrise Lodge, Snack Bar and Gift Shop are scheduled to open July 2.

The Sunrise Visitor Center will remain closed for the season for interior
rehabilitation and installation of new exhibits. Visitor information and
book sales will be located in the Sunrise Ranger Station and Lodge for this
season.

Sunrise, at an elevation of 6,400 feet, is the highest point in the park that
can be reached by road. With approximately six feet of snow still on the ground,
hiking trails in the Sunrise area remain snow covered.

White River Campground also will open to camping at noon Friday.

The Mowich Lake Road is tentatively scheduled to open July 2. Visitors can
expect to find 4 to 5 feet of snow at the parking lot.

Most trails in the park are snow covered. For detailed information on
trail conditions, check the Mount Rainier web page and click on Quicklinks/ Hiking and Climbing/Current Trail and Backcountry
Conditions – or stop at a park visitor center.

and dining in the park.

Pre-recorded park information is available by calling 360-569-2211 and
choosing the menu of interest.

Read more: http://blog.thenewstribune.com/street/2010/06/23/sunrise-road-at-rainier-opens-friday/#ixzz0rilcW1Me

Nutritional Facts and Figures

The Research
In a recent study presented in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology Metabolism, the WHtR was the strongest predictor of cardiovascular risk and mortality. On the other hand, BMI was not always positively associated with cardiovascular risk. The results of this study discourage the use of BMI as a measure of health risk and encourage the use of WHtR.

BMI Flaws
BMI provides a guide to the relationship between a person’s height and weight. However, having a high BMI is not always a telltale sign that one will be at greater risk for disease. For instance, many thin people who have low or normal BMI’s still have heart attacks or die from strokes and many people who have high BMI’s are in good cardiovascular shape (as the study above indicated). BMI does not take into account an individual’s frame, gender, or the amount of muscle mass versus fat mass. For example, two people can have the same BMI, even if one is much more muscular and carrying far less abdominal fat than the other; this is because BMI does not account for differences in fat distribution.

WHR
The WHtR is calculated by dividing waist size by height, and takes gender into account. As an example, a male with a 32 inch waist who is 5’10″ (70 inches) would divide 32 by 70, to get a WHtR of 45.7 percent. The WHtR is thought to give a more accurate assessment of health since the most dangerous place to carry weight is in the abdomen. Fat in the abdomen, which is associated with a larger waist, is metabolically active and produces various hormones that can cause harmful effects, such as diabetes, elevated blood pressure, and altered lipid (blood fat) levels.

Many athletes, both male and female, who often have a higher percentage of muscle and a lower percentage of body fat, have relatively high BMIs but their WHtRs are within a healthy range. This also holds true for women who have a “pear” rather than an “apple” shape.

The following chart helps you determine if your WHtR falls in a healthy range (these ratios are percentages):

WOMEN
• Ratio less than 35: Abnormally Slim to Underweight
• Ratio 35 to 42: Extremely Slim
• Ratio 42 to 46: Healthy
• Ratio 46 to 49: Healthy
• Ratio 49 to 54: Overweight
• Ratio 54 to 58: Seriously Overweight
• Ratio over 58: Highly Obese

MEN
• Ratio less than 35: Abnormally Slim to Underweight
• Ratio 35 to 43: Extremely slim
• Ratio 43 to 46: Healthy
• Ratio 46 to 53: Healthy, Normal Weight
• Ratio 53 to 58: Overweight
• Ratio 58 to 63: Extremely Overweight/Obese
• Ratio over 63: Highly Obese

Alyse’s Advice
New research shows that the WHtR, not BMI, is the most accurate assessment tool for health risk. People with the most weight around their waists are at greatest risk of diseases such as heart disease and diabetes. Therefore, since you can’t change your height, you should take special care to keep your weight and in particular, abdominal girth in a healthy range by eating nutritiously and exercising regularly.

1. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2010 Apr;95(4):1777-85. Epub 2010 Feb 3. The predictive value of different measures of obesity for incident cardiovascular events and mortality. Schneider HJ, Friedrich N, Klotsche J, Pieper L, Nauck M, John U, Dörr M, Felix S, Lehnert H, Pittrow D, Silber S, Völzke H, Stalla GK, Wallaschofski H, Wittchen HU.

Los Angeles nutritionist Alyse Levine MS, RD, founder of NutritionBite
. Visit her profile on LIVESTRONG.COM.

I know I do, as a kid growing up it was one of those shows I watched thinking some of those people are just weird!!!.

Well, read along and enjoy some of the quick wit that the show produced..

Hollywood Squares:
These great questions and answers are from the days when ‘ Hollywood Squares’ game show responses were spontaneous, not scripted, as they are now. Peter Marshall was the host asking the questions, of course..
 
 Q.. Paul, what is a good reason for pounding meat?
 
A. Paul Lynde: Loneliness!
 
(The audience laughed so long and so hard it took up almost 15 minutes of the show!)
 
 
Q. Do female frogs croak?
 
A. Paul Lynde: If you hold their little heads under water long enough.
 
 
Q. If you’re going to make a parachute jump, at least how high should you be
 
A. Charley Weaver: Three days of steady drinking should do it.
 
 
Q. True or False, a pea can last as long as 5,000 years…
 
A. George Gobel: Boy, it sure seems that way sometimes.
 
 
Q. You’ve been having trouble going to sleep. Are you probably a man or a woman?
 
A. Don Knotts: That’s what’s been keeping me awake.
 
 
Q. According to Cosmopolitan, if you meet a stranger at a party and you think that he is attractive, is it okay to come out and ask him if he’s married?
 
A.. Rose Marie: No wait until morning.
 
 
Q. Which of your five senses tends to diminish as you get older?
 
A. Charley Weaver: My sense of decency..
 
 
Q. In Hawaiian, does it take more than three words to say ‘I Love You’?
 
A. Vincent Price: No, you can say it with a pineapple and a twenty..
 
 
Q. What are ‘Do It,’ ‘I Can Help,’ and ‘I Can’t Get Enough’?
 
A. George Gobel: I don’t know, but it’s coming from the next apartment.
 
 
Q. As you grow older, do you tend to gesture more or less with your hands while talking?
 
A. Rose Marie: You ask me one more growing old question Peter, and I’ll give you a gesture you’ll never forget.
 
 
Q. Paul, why do Hell’s Angels wear leather?
 
A. Paul Lynde: Because chiffon wrinkles too easily.
 
 
Q.. Charley, you’ve just decided to grow strawberries. Are you going to get any during the first year?
 
A.. Charley Weaver: Of course not, I’m too busy growing strawberries.
 
 
Q. In bowling, what’s a perfect score?
 
A. Rose Marie: Ralph, the pin boy.
 
 
Q. It is considered in bad taste to discuss two subjects at nudist camps.. One is politics, what is the other?
 
A. Paul Lynde: Tape measures..
 
 
Q. During a tornado, are you safer in the bedroom or in the closet?
 
A. Rose Marie: Unfortunately Peter, I’m always safe in the bedroom.
 
 
Q. Can boys join the Camp Fire Girls?
 
A.. Marty Allen: Only after lights out.
 
 
Q. When you pat a dog on its head he will wag his tail. What will a goose do?
 
A. Paul Lynde: Make him bark?
 
 
Q. If you were pregnant for two years, what would you give birth to?
 
A. Paul Lynde: Whatever it is, it would never be afraid of the dark..
 
 
Q. According to Ann Landers, is there anything wrong with getting into the habit of kissing a lot of people?
 
A. Charley Weaver: It got me out of the army.
 
 
Q. It is the most abused and neglected part of your body, what is it?
 
A. Paul Lynde: Mine may be abused, but it certainly isn’t neglected.
 
 
Q. Back in the old days, when Great Grandpa put horseradish on his head, what was he trying to do?
 
A. George Gobel: Get it in his mouth.
 
 
Q. Who stays pregnant for a longer period of time, your wife or your elephant?
 
A. Paul Lynde: Who told you about my elephant?
 
 
Q. When a couple have a baby, who is responsible for its sex?
 
A.. Charley Weaver: I’ll lend him the car, the rest is up to him
 
 
Q. Jackie Gleason recently revealed that he firmly believes in them and has actually seen them on at least two occasions. What are they?
 
A. Charley Weaver: His feet.
 
 
Q. According to Ann Landers, what are two things you should never do in bed?
 
A. Paul Lynde: Point and laugh
 
 
WE DON’T STOP LAUGHING BECAUSE WE GROW OLD,
WE GROW OLD BECAUSE WE STOP LAUGHING.

Due to heavy snow accumulation on the roadway, DOT crews temporarily closed Chinook Pass just after 7:30 a.m. on Saturday. Crews assessed the stability of the hillside on Sunday morning, and determined the avalanche risk is too great to allow traffic to safely cross Chinook Pass and Cayuse Pass.

Since Friday, Chinook Pass has received more than three feet of snow. More snow is forecast.

The Highway 410 Chinook Pass closure points are at Morse Creek (five miles east of the summit) and at Crystal Mountain Boulevard (eight miles northwest of the summit). Access to the Crystal Mountain Ski Resort from Highway 410 remains open.

DOT and the Mount Rainier National Park staff agreed to close Highway 123 (Cayuse Pass) for the season. The highway is closed within Mount Rainier National Park from the 4,675-foot Cayuse Pass summit at the junction of Highways 410 and 123 to Steven Canyon Road. DOT closes each pass for the winter due to high avalanche risk and hazardous driving conditions.

1. When I was born, I was given a choice – a big dick or a good memory….I don’t remember what I chose.

2. Your birth certificate is an apology letter from the condom factory.

3. A wife is a sex object. Every time you ask for sex, she objects.

4. Impotence: nature’s way of saying, “No hard feelings…..”

5. There are only two four letter words that are offensive to men – ‘don’t’ and ’stop’, unless they are used together.

6. Panties: not the best thing on earth, but next to the best thing on earth.

7. There are three stages in a man’s life: Tri-Weekly, Try Weekly and Try Weakly.

8. Virginity can be cured.

9. Virginity is not dignity, it’s lack of opportunity.

10. Having sex is like playing bridge – if you don’t have a good partner, you better have a good hand.

11. I tried phone sex once, but the holes in the dialer were too small.

12. Marriage is the only war where you get to sleep with the enemy.

13. Question: What’s an Australian kiss?
Answer: The same thing as a French kiss, only down under.

14. A couple just married were happy with the whole thing. He was happy with the Hole and she was happy with the
Thing..

15. Question: What are the three biggest tragedies in a man’s life?
Answer: Life sucks, job sucks and the wife doesn’t.

16. Question: Why do men find it difficult to make eye
contact? Answer: Breasts don’t have eyes.

17. Despite the old saying, ‘Don’t take your troubles to
bed’, many men still sleep with their wives!

Just wanted to share so others can have a good laugh.. Enjoy!

• Your Family, friends, and work or school obligations

•   Don’t feel you truly have the time it takes

•   Really believe you don’t know where to start, or you feel you have failed in the past and it will only happen again

Any of these sound like your reality? not to worry OK, you’re not alone. The place to help is right here..

Yes its true, your the only one who can make the decision and the time to exercise, but since your reading this, maybe some of my information can help you to learn what to do, when you need to do it, and why the hell are you doing it.

Here are some basic steps to follow to get you started you on your way.

1. Learn about what you need to know in order to start exercising. Jump over to the “You need to know this” page, to read and understand it.
2. Learn about what you don’t need to know about exercising. Jump over to the ” ” to read and enjoy a laugh or two.
3. Learn some basic exercises and stretches that you can do right away as you get started. Jump over to the “Basic Exercises & Simple Stretches page” Read and practice these things as shown, and guess what… Your on your Way!

Don’t forget, Nutrition is your foundation, so with that in mind;

1. Stay tuned to learn the “Fundamental Nutrition Principles” and how to incorporate them in your daily life.

What a great trip, be sure to stop by my Eyehike.com Gallery for all the photos!

And a review of the first week has been posted by my hiking buddy Switchback Steve here

Stay tuned for the trip report (I know it’s somewhere around here…) I hiked this in Sept. 2004 with two friends. It was a blast something different than either Mt. Hood or Mt. Rainier.

Here is a link to some photos of the trip  Mt. Adams Gallery on Eyehike

Also here are some maps and route profiles, and overviews  Adams route info

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Cream the butter with the brown sugar and oil.
Stir in the oats, wheat flouir, white flour, wheat germ, orange peel, and cinnamon.
Press the mixture into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 inch baking pan.
Mix the eggs to mixture ingredients togeter and spread evenly over the bottom mixture.
Bake 35-37 minutes and cool slightly before cutting into bars.
Yield: 20@ 3 ounce bars.

Nutrition Information per 3 ounce bar

Calories per 3 ounce bar: 471
Calories from Fat 215
Total Fat 24g
Saturated Fat 9g
Poly-unsaturated Fat 2g
Mono-unsaturated Fat 4g
Cholesterol 67mg
Sodium 99mg
Total Carbohydrates 58g
Dietary Fiber 4g
Sugars 38g
Protein 7g

The $22.5 million work on the historic inn in Mount Rainier National Park , which closed the facility in October 2005, was necessary to strengthen the building against earthquakes, improve safety systems and help the grande dame withstand another 91 winters – so most of the construction was underground and behind walls.

Still, while shoring up crumbling foundations and strengthening supports, construction crews did return some of the inn’s historic luster. Visitors will see a new facade on the gift shop and fir flooring in the lobby and the dining room. The handcrafted furniture pieces, including the 14-foot grandfather clock and the restored vintage piano, are still in their customary locations in the lobby.

“We have something worth protecting here,” said Ellen Gage, the park’s historic architect. “We’ve done more preservation, but we looked for opportunities to do restoration.”

But budget overruns forced park officials to delay work on the Annex, which means no changes in the majority of the guest rooms.

As park management and Watts-Korsmo Joint Venture, the lead contractor, negotiated the final contract they realized that the work on the inn would cost about $5 million more than expected. That money was intended for work on the Annex, said park superintendent Dave Uberuaga.

“There were 250 to 300 items – such as the types of drainage around the building, types of heating systems, types of rock walls to be used – that we discussed,” Uberuaga said of the negotiations. “That’s when we decided not to proceed with work on the Annex.”

The retrofit of the Annex, housing 114 of the inn’s 121 guest rooms, could begin as soon 2013 if Congress approves the park’s budget request.

Congressman Norm Dicks, D-Belfair, will look to see if the Annex can be moved up in the line of National Park Service projects awaiting funding, said George Behan, Dicks’ chief of staff.

“There may be a chance to move it up in the queue. Norm has been working with the current Secretary (of Interior) Dirk Kempthorne and he has been supportive.”

UNFORESEEN CHALLENGES

About 150 construction workers spent more than 30 months battling snow, avalanches, rain, floods, wind and cold to revitalize the inn.

“The challenges up here were incredible. You could go anywhere west of the Mississippi and not find a job like this,” said Ken Hardy of Tacoma , general foreman for Watts-Korsmo.

Crews knew they would face extreme conditions working at an elevation of 5,400 feet. But they couldn’t predict a historic flood, above-average snowfall and unusually extreme winds.

Since the inn closed, more than 2,200 inches of snow have fallen at Paradise . Avalanches closed the road to the inn for two weeks in February. Paradise averages about 630 inches of snow a season.

“I grew up here, but I didn’t realize how much snow they get up here at Paradise ,” said Ron Case of Rochester , a painter for subcontractor Todd Robinson Painting Inc. of Tumwater.

“I worked on Bill Gates’ house several years ago,” Case said. “That’s the last (project) I worked on that was this challenging. But that’s what was fun about this job, it was something different every day.”

In November 2006, 17.9 inches of rain fell in 36 hours, flooding every corner of the park. Trails and campsites were washed away, and roads were cut by rivers and landslides. All told, $36 million in damage was done to the park. Crews’ access to the inn was restricted for six weeks and it slowed them down for four months.

“Early on we could get to the Community Building , hike over the bridge and then drive stranded National Park Service vehicles up to Paradise ,” said Jeff Robison, project manager for Watts-Korsmo.

Some days during the 2-year project, the temperature dipped to 5 degrees with winds at 40 mph, creating a wind chill of minus-22 degrees. In December 2006, winds reached 100 mph.

All the weather challenges delayed the project two weeks, but the construction crews encountered other unexpected developments.

Underneath the massive fireplaces and foundation, workers had to dig down to bedrock – 14 feet in some places – then pour in crushed rock to build the new foundation.

In the east wing, crews had to install additional steel beams to the ceilings and floors to stabilize them.

Painters needed to bring in propane heaters to get rooms warm enough to allow the wood finish to set.

“You open the walls and you find things no one knew existed,” Robison said.

PROTECTING, UTILIZING HISTORY

Determining how far back in time one goes to restore a historical structure isn’t an exact science.

“It’s professional judgment, on the part of a lot of people,” Uberuaga said. “What did the original craftsmen try to achieve and what is the best example of that for the longest time?”

Masons cleaned by hand each of the stones from the three massive fireplaces in the lobby and the dining room. For historic preservation, they weren’t allowed to remove the lichen that clung to the exterior stones. Above the fireplaces, striations of smoke left by decades of fires are still visible on the stones.

Carpenters used hand tools to re-create the mailboxes behind the reception desk.

Original entrance doors were discovered in the basement, and sidelights were found behind walls. Both features were incorporated into the restoration. That attention to detail was part of the effort to maintain the inn’s character.

“The idea fundamentally is to try and put everything back the way that it was. It’s a challenge to retain the historic fabric,” Uberuaga said. “It requires being sensitive to everything. We looked at the width and thickness of the shingles, how long they are, how far they overhang each other.”

The intent was to protect and, where possible, restore the historic look of the inn, which is why architects and engineers relied on historic photos as much as they did blueprints.

“Basically we’re mandated to protect the natural features, but also mandated to protect the historic structures,” said Eric Walkinshaw, park project manager.

What’s now the gift shop was a porch in 1917. The main entrance to the inn was in the corner between the gift shop and the back of the building. When the Annex was added in 1920, the main entrance was relocated.

“If we go back to the original intent, we would remove the gift shop, put the deck back there and reinstate the grand entry back there. That would be the purist version,” Walkinshaw said. “But we have to balance that with visitor enjoyment, and that includes the gift shop, the cafe.”

While much of the rehabilitation work is hidden by the floors and the walls, visitors will see a number of changes.

The most noticeable ones are in the gift shop and the cafe. The false roof that extended into the lobby is gone. Boxed clear fir beams run along the ceiling. The inn’s original doors now serve as an entrance on the shop’s west end. Carpenters added glass doors and windows.

“We were really guided by one historic photo. It showed before the snack bar was built. It showed light pouring in from that side of the building. We said, ‘What a difference having the light coming in from the east side,’” said Gage, the historic architect.

Other photos guided work on the reception desk, where carpenters rebuilt mailboxes and added architectural details.

“We had some pictures to work with. I had to use some hand tools to do some of the detail work,” said Jeff Baker of Shelton , a carpenter with Watts-Korsmo.

Workers built a portable saw to cut Alaskan yellow cedar logs used on the reception desk, the stairs and in the lobby.

“Many of the log shapes we needed to re-create we couldn’t do with drawings,” said Robison, the project manager. “We had to walk in the building, check it out, go outside and then kind of carve the log on the portable saw.”

A FEELING OF FAMILIARITY

Some of the inn’s quirky aspects remain intact. The balcony and its nooks, added after the inn’s original opening in the early 20th century, were kept. They’re a favorite place to enjoy a cup of coffee, play a board game or recap the day’s outdoor adventures.

In a corner of the dining room, hidden from diners but visible to employees, is a small closet used by busboys. Untouched by construction crews, names and messages from previous inn employees still cover the wall and the doors. Some signatures date to the early 1950s. One employee wrote: “Can I survive another year?”

Also visible is a caricature of the “Unknown Waiter,” who entertained guests during Saturday night talent shows in the 1970s.

“He came out with a bag on his head and he would sing. It was a good thing he had the bag. He was bad,” said Melinda Simpson, operations manager for Guest Services Inc.

The renovation also revealed a number of relics, including ski goggles from the ’20s and ’30s, cigarette and tobacco tins, a photo album and a copy of the Seattle Daily Times dated Sept. 11, 1927 . The headline read “City, State Honor Lindy Tuesday,” marking the pending arrival in Seattle of Charles Lindbergh aboard his Spirit of St. Louis.

Some of those items will be on display in the new visitor center being built nearby.

And the next time major work is done at Paradise, crews might find similar items. Many of the workers signed their names to a now-covered wall between the gift shop and the cafe.

Baker, the carpenter, left behind a hard hat and a vest in a space in the wall. Hardy, the Watts-Korsmo foreman, left behind his thoughts.

“I wrote a poem,” he said. “It took me a few nights to write it. But there’s this sense of pride being able to follow our grandfathers and the work they did.”

Those mementos reflect the sense of accomplishment among workers, Hardy said.

As workers such as Baker and Case were making the finishing touches in late April, Guest Services Inc. employees were racing to prepare the inn for the first guests, who are scheduled to arrive Friday. But the pressure of refurnishing the inn didn’t faze Simpson.

As dozens of workers carried in mirrors, mattresses, bed frames and dressers, Simpson’s smile lit up the lobby. She first worked at the inn in 1973, spending 18 years at the park. She returned in November to run Guest Services.

“It’s like coming home. I know the building, I know the furniture,” she said. “It’s a remarkable place. How do you not come in here and say ‘Wow?’”

Jeffrey P. Mayor: 253-597-8640; blogs.thenewstribune.com/adventure