Well, after a week away to attend to family matters, I'm back in the pocket and anxious to get back up to speed. That could take a while, as it's truly amazing how much can transpire in just one week.
    Up in Yellowstone there were several small mud slides that temporarily shut down the park's North Entrance, while over in Olympic there's been an ongoing search for a 47-year-old hiker missing in the park's Staircase region since June 24th. And Grand Teton rangers launched their eighth major search-and-rescue mission of the year on June 27th after a 23-year-old climber failed to self-arrest her slide down a snowfield and wound up with a serious leg injury.
    Yep, there's a lot to get caught up on. Even some "blog-keeping" tinkering, such as updating the "Four Parks" link to "Three Parks" since Mount Rushmore is no longer included in the web site that mentions Yellowstone, Grand Teton and Glacier. Too, I've finally gotten around to rooting out the outdated "In the Parks" blurbs and have a new stack to add, so check out the latest as I get them posted in the next day or so.
    Also, with the summer travel season here, folks have been emailing me off-line with information requests. I'll try to answer them as quickly as possible, but road trips could delay my responses. Please don't think I'm ignoring you. I love to talk about the parks, and this blog is all about interaction.
    Finally, I know there's a lot of interest out there in the results of the investigation into the deadly rafting accident at Grand Teton last month. I'm still following that story, and as soon as I learn something I'll pass it on.