The three kids—my 12-year-old son, Nate, and 10-year-old daughter, Alex, plus my 15-year-old nephew, Marco—are slightly less than enthusiastic about our plan to hike the Skyline Trail Loop above Paradise, on the south side of Mount Rainier National Park. My 76-year-old mom, Joanne, normally an eager hiker, shuffles along this morning, still recovering from a long, hard hike up Mount St. Helens two days ago.

Six climbers are feared dead from a fall of more than 3,000 feet at Mount Rainier National Park in Washington, where they were on a route that took them along one of the more technical approaches to the summit.

A boulder fall at Mount Rainier National Park has forced the temporary closure of the Westside Road, where a private vehicle was crushed by a rock and another boulder left a crater 8 feet in diameter in the road surface.

Time is running out to land a ticket to a gala affair in support of North Cascades, Olympic, and Mount Rainier national parks.