Geoscience Information Society
Best Guidebook Award
2009
Recipient:
Patrick T. Pringle
Roadside Geology of Mount Rainier National
Park and Vicinity
Olympia, WA: Washington Division of Geology and Earth Resources
Information Circular 107, 2008.
“Roadside Geology of Mount Rainier National Park and
Vicinity” is an up-to-date book on volcanic processes past and
present in the Pacific Northwest, illustrating both the beauty
and the hazards of our state’s largest volcano. This book covers
an area bounded by I-5 on the west, State Route 410 on the
north, Yakima on the east, and U.S. 12 on the south. This 200page, four-color book is written for anyone with a basic
understanding of geology and is designed for ease of use, with a
landscape format and spiral binding. Its centerpiece is the logs
of the roads to and through the park. Each of the 15 road logs
has expanded geologic maps of the route and a mile-by-mile
narrative describing the geology and other interesting features.
The book is divided into three main parts: Part I describes the
geologic history and setting of Mount Rainier and environs;
Part II contains the 15 legs of the road guide; and Part III
consists of a glossary, references, and other useful information.
The book contains more than 290 photos and illustrations,
some of them historic, most of them in color. It was funded in
part by the National Scenic Byways Program of the Federal
Highway Administration.
Pringle, also the author of the “Roadside Geology of Mount St.
Helens" (Information Circular 88), worked at the U.S.
Geological Survey’s Cascades Volcano Observatory for 8 years
during and after the 1980s eruptions of Mount St. Helens. He
was with DNR for more than 15 years before taking an Earth
Sciences teaching position at Centralia College in 2005.
Contributing authors include some of the leading experts on
the volcanic history of the Pacific Northwest.
The 2009 Best Guidebook Committee Members are:
Lura Joseph, chair, Jody Foote, chair of Best Guidebook Award, Linda Musser, Louise Zipp, and Erin Palmer
Purpose:
Update and maintain the Geologic Guidebooks of North American database