It was a short skirmish, perhaps just 15 minutes, but it left 10 French soldiers dead, precipitated the French and Indian War, and perhaps was instigated by a young, brash George Washington.

Following an extended illness, Dr. Harry Butowsky, formerly with the National Park Service History Division, passed away May 6 at his home in Reston, Virginia. He was 78.

Imagine a lake of bright yellow-orange lava with a molten fountain gushing 1,900 feet (580m) in the air. Now imagine walking across a smoothed solid rock surface where that lava lake once churned, guided by ahu (rock cairns) past a tall cinder cone as you aim toward the other side. That’s the experience of the Kīlauea Iki Trail in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park.

Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park opened for traffic Friday, though weather could create tricky travel conditions or lead to a temporary closure.