Mt Rainier trail washed out by 2006 flooding to open again

The Seattle Times reports that the popular trail around Mt Rainier washed out by at 2006 flood has been rerouted and will be open for hikers.

This week, park officials hope to open the lower, mile-long section of the new Glacier Basin trail, improved and rerouted.

Much of the original Glacier Basin trail, once a straightforward dirt path, was wiped out by about 18 inches of rain that poured down in 36 hours and raged through the White River Valley in November 2006.

The Inter Fork River overtook the trail, where it still flows. For the past four years, hikers and mountaineers have been forced to the river's side, where they scramble up loose rock fields or precariously hop from stone to log to cross the river.

While the first 5,000 feet of trail was expected to open this week, work has just begun on the next 1,500-foot section — which is slated to be ready for hikers early next spring.

Read the full story: Popular Mount Rainier National Park trail is restored, rerouted

Photo from Greg Gilbert / The Seattle Times

Mt St Helens tourism vs conservation

The Seattle Times reports on how to bring tourism back to Mount St. Helens while preserving the natural area surrounding it.

Mount St. Helens in the Cascade mountains of Washington State famously blew its stack on May 18, 1980 and has had more volcanic activity in the last few years.

Fascination with the volcano continues to this day, and the mountain has obligingly let loose with smaller eruptions every few years, maintaining the intrigue. On average, the volcano and the surrounding Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument get about 750,000 visitors a year.

But, try as they might, entrepreneurs in communities surrounding the mountain have never been able to turn the fascination into serious money.

Scientists and conservationists, who regard the volcano as a natural laboratory, want nature left alone. Tourism interests want more roads, campgrounds, hotels, restaurants, more organized activities and — most of all — more access into areas set off for scientific research.

Read the full story: Balancing tourism and science at Mount St. Helens

Photo from USGS

Australia koalas dying of stress

The Seattle Times reports that koalas are dying of stress-related disease.

The iconic Australian marsupials are being crowded out of their native forests by human populations; and with this comes stress.

The stress is bringing out a latent disease that infects 50 to 90 percent of the animals.

The problem came to national attention in August, when the well-known Sam the Koala (picture above) died during surgery to treat the disease, called chlamydia. Sam captured the world's attention during major wildfires in February, when she was photographed drinking from the water bottle of a firefighter in a smoldering forest.

Chlamydiosis is a virus that breaks out in koalas in times of stress - like cold sores in humans - and leads to infections in the eyes and urinary, reproductive and respiratory tracts. It can cause blindness, infertility and death.

Read the full story: Stress-related disease killing off Australia's koalas

Photo by Mark Pardew / AP

More OR coast birds killed by drivers

The Seattle Times reports that more Oregon Coast seabirds are being killed by beach drivers.

Sharnelle Fee, director of the Wildlife Center of the North Coast, said she found the bodies of eight protected seabirds on Saturday, scattered on the sand just north of the entrance to Gearhart Beach on the Oregon coast

Fee has found the bodies of dead birds just about every week this summer. In June, a young motorist hit and killed nearly 50 seabirds near Long Beach on the Washington coast. "In many instances, the tides just wash the bodies away," Fee said. "I think we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg."

Read the full story: Beach drivers killing birds on Oregon coast

Photo from Wikimedia

Bike through WA State's San Juans, spot whales

The Seattle Times reports on biking through Washington State's San Juan Islands.

Associated Press reporter Carey J. Williams along with biking pal Ross Jonak (pic left) took a week to bike 269-miles around the islands. The relatively traffic-free and scenic area is perfect for cyclists.

One of the many highlights: Carey had the opportunity to spot a pod of whales.

Read the full story: Biking in the San Juan Islands

A walk through Italy's Cinque Terre

On this Earth Day we at Ecotravel News wish we could be hiking through the picturesque towns of Italy's Cinque Terre again like Rick Steves' did recently.

The day-long meandering hike passes through the five (cinque) towns perched along the Mediterranean coast.

The area is a national park and is easily accessible by train.

Read the full story: Step back in time

View WA State tulips during monthlong festival

The Seattle Times reports on what else to do while touring this month's Skagit Valley tulip festival.

"Commercial growers farm more than 1,000 acres of flowers in the valley, and when in full bloom, it's a territorial quilt of dazzling reds, yellows and pinks.

You can see most of them in a half-hour drive or a half-day of biking on the straight, flat roads that crisscross fertile fields. So what do you do before and after?"

Read the full story: A bouquet of ideas