August 12, 2009, 3:45 pm
The names – such as James Longmire, Fay Fuller and P.B. Van Trump – are deeply entwined in the history of Mount Rainier National Park.
On Saturday, park visitors will get the chance to see and hear from these and others – though long since gone – as park staff and volunteers present “Shadows of the Past.”
Walking along a lantern-lit Trail of the Shadows at Longmire, visitors will get a sense of the people who made the park a reality as portrayed by park staffers.
Among them is Tara Callaway, in her second year as a park naturalist. She will be portraying Fuller, the first woman to reach the summit.
Callaway said she became interested in Fuller after seeing a portrait of her in her climbing outfit.
“She looked so confident with her walking stick, her outfit and her satchel wrapped over her shoulder,” Callaway said.
“I’ve started looking into her life; it’s pretty fascinating. How far they had to hike – they had to go from Yelm from where she was teaching – and how much they had to endure,” Callaway said.
Kevin Bacher, who heads the park’s volunteer and outreach programs, will portray P.B. Van Trump, the man credited with reaching the summit first.
