I got back a while ago from Paradise Inn, a beehive of activity as the May 16 reopening of the inn fast approaches.

Contractors and subcontractors were racing to finish the final work of the two-season renovation. In the meantime, crews from Guest Services Inc. and Olympic Moving were busy bringing in room furnishings and setting up the tables and chairs in the dining room. Finally, a group from Mount Rainier National Park were checking out the lobby to see where they could hang art work.

Some of the changes are remarkable. The Douglas fir woodwork and floor in the gift shop glowed. The expanded cafe will quickly become a popular nightspot for park visitors.

But the historic and rustic feel of the inn is intact.

While there, I interviewed Melinda Simpson, operations manager for Guest Services. She was literally bouncing with excitement as we talked about the reopening of the inn.

"It's like coming home," she said.

The recognition of the volunteer effort to repair flood damage at Mount Rainier National Park continus to garner awards.

Park staff learned today that on May 8, Mount Rainier's volunteer program will receive the George B. Hartzog Jr. Award for Outstanding Volunteer Service, the National Park Service's highest honor.

The Hartzog Award recognizes the efforts of the individual volunteers, the 1,724 people who turned out to build trails, plant trees, scan historic images and work in the park's visitor centers.

“You are the ones who've been keeping our greenhouse running and helping to rescue people lost on the mountain. You're the ones who've invested weekends to patrol trails at Carbon River and summers to serve as Campground Hosts at Cougar Rock and Ohanapecosh. You're the ones who've been coming out faithfully for 20 years, or who chose to spend four months living in a platform tent last summer, or who took a long weekend to camp out and serve as Meadow Rovers, or who spent a day of your vacation volunteering with the Washington Trails Association, or who squeezed in few hours to help restore the Longmire Campground with your kids on National Public Lands Day,” wrote Kevin Bacher, who heads the park’s volunteer program.

On Monday, the park and the coalition of organizations that led the volunteer effort received the Cooperative Conservation Award.

Here's a story from Jeff that will run in tomorrow's Adventure section:

By Jeffrey P. Mayor
jeff.mayor@thenewstribune.com
REI has opted to remove all polycarbonate water bottles containing bisphenol A from its inventory as consumers debate whether the chemical poses a health risk.
The Kent-based outdoors retailer made the decision Friday, the same day the maker of the popular Nalgene water bottle said it will remove the hard-plastic product containing the chemical from stores and replace its Nalgene Outdoor line of containers with BPA-free alternatives.
“Increasingly, we’ve had customer demand for BPA-free water bottles. There also has been increasing customer confusion on how to identify a water bottle made without BPA,” said REI spokeswoman Megan Behrbaum.
Joe Hyer, co-owner of Alpine Experience in Oympia, cautions consumers to not overreact. “If there was something harmful in a Nalgene bottle, not only would we be pulling them off the shelves, but also recalling the millions of the ones that have already been sold,” he said.
Andrea Wagner, manager of Backpackers Supply on South Tacoma Way in Tacoma, has noticed a shift in consumer preference. “We’ve been selling more of the aluminum bottles. In the last couple of months, we’ve seen sales definitely drop off on those (Nalgene) types of bottles.”

=> Read more!

As a mountain biker, I don't think of myself as evil. However, a reader in San Ramon, Calif., says otherwise.

Mike Vandeman, a vocal hater of mountain bikers, has e-mailed after my last two stories about mountain biking insisting that I'm being irresponsible by writing about this sport.

He is, of course, right. Mountain biking does damage. Although the amount of damage is questionable.

Check out his website here. He calls this the science on mountain biking.

Mountain bikers, of course, strongly disagree with Vandeman's opinions. Click here to check out an article by Seattle's Backcountry Bicycle Trails Club that claims Vandeman is a "kook."

I asked some mountain bikers to defend their sport for an article a couple of years ago:

They claimed the sport's impact was similar to that of hiking.

"When people say we are having a negative impact on the trails, that's a surrogate for not wanting to see bikes on the trails," said Gary Sprung, the national policy adviser for the International Mountain Bicycling Association. "When people are honest and just say they don't want bikes on the trails, we have much better conversations."

Before working for IMBA, Sprung was the president of a Colorado group that helped stop logging and mining projects that endangered the environment.

"We care about the environment," Sprung said of mountain bikers. "We could bring a major source of energy to support conservation, but instead we have to spend all our time defending mountain biking."

Sprung and (Justin) Vander Pol (of the BBTC) say opposition to mountain biking comes mostly from older people.

"People in their 20s and 30s have had mountain biking around for as long as they can remember," Sprung, 51, said.

Sprung, also an avid hiker, says there should be some hiking-only trails, but says there is no need for bike-only trails.

"You're not going to find a mountain biker who is opposed to hikers," Sprung said. "This is a one-way social conflict."

Mountain bikers say it's also a myth that they are blazing new trails in forests.

" Mountain biking is all about the trail," Vander Pol said. "If you try to ride a bike off the trail, you probably aren't going to get very far. Mountain bikers stay on trails more than hikers."

Vander Pol and Sprung might be pedaling uphill when it comes to spreading the word that mountain bikers respect the outdoors as much as hikers do.

"It doesn't have to be a competition" between hikers and bikers, Vander Pol said. "We should all be able to use and take care of the trails."