Newsletter	Last Month: June 2004 Newsletter

July Skagit Alpine Club Meeting Wed, July 7, 2004 - 6 pm Annual Club Picnic - Washington Park The annual club picnic on Wednesday, July 7th at 6pm at lovely Washington Park in Anacortes. Efforts will be made to claim a site near the boat ramp. If your last name starts with: A-H - bring some beverages I-P - bring a main dish R-Z - bring a side dish Take the Highway 20 spur west of Anacortes toward the ferry terminal. Stay left onto Sunset Ave instead going down to the terminal. Continue past Skyline and down to the park. Veer left and head down to the day parking by the boat ramp -or- veer right and park by the playground and walk down to the picnic area. Secretary's Report May 5, 2004 Old Business: Climbing Committee - Mike Bechtol indicated that the Committee will meet on a regular basis to discuss curriculum for the climbing class. The Committee is Mike Bechtol, Wade Bessett, Brad Monrad, Eric Sanbo, Rick Rogers, and Allen Grenz. In the near future, Mike will report to the Club on their agreements on what to teach, requirements for the class, and their progress. If you are interested in the Committee, please contact Kathy Monrad or Mike Bechtol. Scholarship - This topic has been covered at length at prior meetings and it was again reiterated that the Scholarship Committee met, proposed the criteria for a scholarship for a student in the climbing class, and their recommendation was accepted. Due to the timing of the proposal and the class, it wasn't feasible to offer the scholarship during the 2004 Climbing Class. However, the Scholarship Committee will meet prior to the 2005 Climbing Class, follow their guidelines, and be able to offer the scholarship at that time. New Business - The Skagit Alpine Club was sent an advisory regarding the use of helicopters by the Forest Service to rebuild/repair the numerous bridges that were rendered useless or non-existent following the storms from last fall. The Forest Service anticipates that it will take 7-10 years to repair all of the damage done. To that end, they have done a damage assessment and you can access all of the grisly details via the Washington Trails Association's web-site www.washingtontrails.com Slide Show - Allen Grenz presented is much-anticipated slide show of his trip to Argentina and Chile. Great photos and we're all very envious of Allen's time down south. Left unanswered was the burning question, does the water drain clock-wise or counter-clock-wise? Respectfully submitted, Brian Heinrich Trail Maintenance NATIONAL TRAIL DAY - There were 24 enthusiastic volunteers who showed up on June 5 to work on a new trail in Deception Pass Park. It was amazing to see how much work the group did in just one day of work! We celebrated afterwards with hamburgers hot off the grill. A fun day for all. The PNT group has also been busy this year working on the trails up Chuckanut and around Anderson Mtn (near Alger). Thanks to Beth Walsh and Kim Kelley for helping in the rain and sunshine. Now is the time to mark your calendar for upcoming trail work days: July 10 and 31, August 14 and 28, Sept. 11 and 25 Meet 8:15 at the Cook Rd. exit. Bring work gloves and lunch. Call Lynn and Sancho if you have any questions 428-4237. Come on out and I guarantee you will have a good time! Park Butte Sherpas Needed Any one headed up to Park Butte? The Lookout weathered the winter well, but there are a few items which could be replenished - De Con and some biodegradable detergent. We've purchased these items and if someone is willing to take them up to the Lookout give us a call at 360-336-5896 or email at erbst@cnw.com. Thanks, John and Marie Erbstoeszer. Outings Mt. Adams, South Spur Route July 29 & 30th I'll be going up the South Spur route on Adams with a couple of friends at the end of July. If you want a nice low technical route up a volcano, this is it. We'll leave early Thursday from here, drive to the Cold Springs trailhead and hike up to the Lunch Counter (9000') and spend the night. We'll summit Friday morning (12,275') and then enjoy one of the best glissades in the North Cascades. We'll plan on being back to trailhead Friday afternoon (just as the crowds start showing up). If you are interested give Thad Hink a call at 770-4528 or email at sacnews@thinkstudios.net Trip Report Eldorado Peak, East Ridge May 11-12, 2004 Guidebook authors consistently bill the glacier route on Eldorado a North Cascades classic. They say it's got it all - a direct approach, a lengthy boulder hop, extended snow travel, killer views, and an exhilarating finish on a knife edge summit. A quick glance at a map of the Inspiration-McAllister-Klawatti region bolstered their claims. Our expedition party numbered five: Brad Monrad, Jenny Baker, Chris Danilson, Shawn Taipale, and Skye Cooley. A certain senior member of the group, having completed a hasty assessment of the group's meager reserves and probability of success, determined that he might do well to let an advance team (the rest of us) put "a few miles down" before joining us. We redistributed tent, stove, and fuel loads accordingly. He retired to a warm vehicle for a second round of crumpets and bit more rest. "I'll radio when I wake". Crossing the creek on a tangle of logs, we began our ascent into the wild beneath a misting, leaden sky. Our cup-half-full interpretation of weather report called for a pattern of stable but soggy with a window on Saturday. "We'll give it a go," someone said as we hoisted packs. Discussion of the path so far seemed to center on the word brutal. "Are we not men?" another voice demanded. Our quads accepted the steepening grade. I began whimpering, began to think of crumpets. The glacial wilderness above Marble Creek cirque is accessed through a backdoor route up Eldorado Creek involving some 1800' of steep trail and an equal measure of boulder hopping and step kicking. The way is well marked, but stay right through the upper boulder field, ignoring most of the cairns. Whatever your altimeter tells you, go higher and move a bit right. This rule of thumb will also serve you well should you be seeking a.) victory in political debate, b.) the Delete key on your laptop, or c.) a navigable trade route to the Atlantic. Jenny and Chris smoothly tag-teamed several thousand steps up to our camp at 7500'. The rest of us laggards happily strolled the stairway for hours, snapping foggy photographs, offering little more than cries of encouragement from the peanut gallery, "Put yer back into it, for Queen and Country, you lollies!". We established camp and settled in for the night, having bolted the contents of our Mountain House feed bags, still unable to see our objective or anything on the horizon larger than a few hoary marmots. The temperature dropped, the snowpack crystallized, someone passed out tainted chocolates, and strange smells began wafting about the tent. Brad snored bearishly. I drifted off dreaming of dead goat and egg salad sandwiches. Chris quietly fumed with outrage, clamped a biner over his nose. Jenny, enclosed in her (leaky) $500 fart sack, eventually felt better. The concept of weather windows and summit pushes are foreign to most Cascade climbers. You're more likely to hear, "Rain or snow is probable sometime this weekend. Are we going or not?" than, "The stable climbing period in June occurs between May 15 and May 31, so experienced teams organize their efforts accordingly". We hoped for at least some sort of clearing in order to reach a summit this weekend. A few minutes past 9 pm, the well-rested senior member arrived in camp bringing with him clear skies and tales of a light pack and the finest strudel. His arrival afforded us the opportunity to air out our tent and assess the morrow's route. By 9 am we sat comfortably astride Eldorado's overhanging summit cornice, dismissing doubts about the stability of the perch in favor of head-stand photographs and off-balance high fives. Fred Beckey would have been proud in our use of three pickets and two shoulder stands in order to gain an improbable, unprotected traverse to an unrecognizable, yet correctly chosen, spur leading to the summit. You could do worse in choosing an objective, but not better in choosing expedition members, crumpet munchers and stink-bombers included. Skye Cooley Mission Statement To promote the use, and prevent the abuse, of all outdoor recreational areas, particularly the North Cascade area and Olympic Mountains, the San Juan Islands, and the Pacific Beaches; to provide companionship and fellowship between outdoorsmen; to disseminate information regarding the safe and pleasant usage of the outdoors; to function as a group dedicated to the preservation of reasonable recreational and wilderness areas on the county, state, and national level. Skagit Alpine Club PO Box 1054 Mount Vernon Washington 98273 www.skagitalpineclub.com Officers President Kathy Monrad 853-8901 Vice President Sylvia Trask 856-4050 Secretary Brian Heinrich 756-6950 mtkulshan@yahoo.com Treasurer George Reeves 293-3417 Climbingfool2000@yahoo.com Directors Eric Sandbo 755-0746 Harold Mead 299-8196 Committees Conservation Fred Darvill 424-5854 Lookout Fred & Ginny Darvill 424-5854 John & Marie Erbstoeszer336-5896 Programs Maggie Sullivan 724-3158 Outings Lynn Postler 428-4237 sancho@fidalgo.net Website Allen Grenz 422-7593 allen@gotooasys.com Newsletter Thad Hink 770-4528 sacnews@thinkstudios.net

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