On the eve of America's Summit on National Parks, it's timely to recall Edward Abbey's belief that "(T)he chief reason so many people are fleeing the cities at every opportunity to go tramping, canoeing, skiing into the wilds is that wilderness offers a taste of adventure, a chance for the rediscovery of our ancient, preagricultural, preindustrial freedom."

Winds reaching 40 mph Friday created white-out conditions that hampered a search for two overdue parties at Mount Rainier National Park, and the forecast doesn't call for much improvement during the weekend.

Perhaps it was good weather, perhaps simply the lure of the mountains, but visitation to Rocky Mountain National Park last year reached 3.3 million, an increase of 6.6 percent over 2010 levels, according to park officials.

A team of elite mountaineers familiar with routes on Mount Rainier and avoiding avalanches headed on Thursday to look for two overdue parties in Mount Rainier National Park.