Rocky Mountain National Park

Randy Jones, 56, a former National Park Service deputy director and past superintendent of Rocky Mountain National Park, died Nov. 23 of cancer at his home in Estes Park, Colo., just outside the park boundaries. Jones, who was superintendent of the park from 1995 to 2002, worked for the National Park Service for more than 30 years.

A New Year's Day avalanche killed two men who were snowmobiling near Rocky Mountain National Park northwest of Denver, and a snowshoer was missing and presumed dead after another avalanche in Utah, officials said. Forecasters warned that heavy snowfall and high wind made mountain conditions hazardous in both states. A blizzard was moving through the Colorado mountains near Trap Lake where the two snowmobilers were caught in the avalanche, authorities said.

Plans to begin commercial air tours over Rocky Mountain National Park northwest of Denver are being put on hold after the government objected. The Federal Aviation Administration and the Interior Department said in Washington they would prohibit any tour flights over the park while the government develops a long-term policy for dealing with such flights. There are no commercial air tours operating over the national park near Estes Park, Colo., about 50 miles northwest of Denver.

Autopsy results show that park ranger Jeff Christensen died of head injuries from a fall on the same day he left to patrol the backcountry of Rocky Mountain National Park, officials said. Christensen's body was found after an eight-day search over 26 square miles of wilderness. A hiker found it near Spectacle Lakes at about 13,000 feet.

The U.S. Senate has approved a deal that would provide an 83-year-old widow with a lifetime lease on a cabin inside Rocky Mountain National Park. The National Park Service wanted to evict Betty Dick when her lease expired on July 16, but after the intervention of two U.S. senators and a congressman, a compromise was reached. The legislation allows her to rent the cabin, which she uses as a summer home, and eight surrounding acres for $300 a year for the rest of her life.

COLORADO * An air tanker crashed while working to control a 1,200-acre wildfire near Rocky Mountain National Park, killing the two people on board, aviation officials said. The U.S. Forest Service said investigators were on their way to the crash site, about 45 miles northwest of Denver. It didn't have any other details about the plane or the crash. A spokesman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, said he believed the plane was operated by Hawkins & Powers Aviation Inc.

If you go THE BEST WAY TO DENVER From LAX, American, United, Frontier and Southwest offer nonstop service to Denver, and US Airways offers connecting service (change of plane). Restricted round-trip fares begin at $212. From Denver International Airport, it's about a two-hour drive north to the trailhead in Rocky Mountain National Park. At the Longs Peak Ranger Station and Campground entrance, make a left and go one mile to the trailhead. This extremely strenuous hike, 16 miles round trip, has an elevation gain of 5,000 feet.

A black bear mauled two campers over the weekend, leaving them with torn scalps and forcing rangers to shut down a number of backcountry camping sites, Rocky Mountain National Park officials said. Patrick Finan, 22, of Boulder, and Tim Schuett, 23, of Glen Ellyn, Ill., were attacked as they slept in separate tents early Sunday, officials said. Finan was bitten on the forehead and scalp, park spokesman Kyle Patterson said.