Skagit Alpine

Newsletter of the Skagit Alpine Club

July 2007

“To promote the use and prevent the abuse of outdoor recreation areas."

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Meeting:

July picnic (takes the place of the July meeting)

When: July 11 (2nd Wednesday) at 6:30 pm

Where: On top of Little Mountain at the picnic tables (this is in Mt. Vernon and accessed from Blackburn Rd just after it bends south and turns into Little Mtn Rd)

Extras: Wade will go for a hike, leaving the top parking spot at 5:30. Come along if you’d like, we are an outdoor activities club after all! He will be searching the hill for wild, native blackberries and other edibles.

What: This is our annual summer fabulous picnic potluck. Last year Lester was able to name nearly all the birds by their songs but nobody could confirm whether he was right or not. So, brush up on your birding knowledge and try out a new recipe. BYOB (bring your own beverage). Please either bring a dish according to the following LAST name category or if that does not fit your desire then just bring something very, very tasty. If you have a couple of lawn or other easily transportable chairs please bring them. Dogs are welcome, but bring leashes since it is a public park and other dogs may not be as well-behaved as yours.
A-G: desert,  H-O: side dish,  P-Z:  main dish.

Secretary‘s Report:

Nothing from the June meeting.

Program:

Picnic in lieu of a program.

Outing(s):

Nothing for July.

PACIFIC NORTHWEST TRAIL ASSOCIATION
24854 Charles Jones Memorial Circle #4 Sedro-Woolley WA 98284 360-854-9415

2007 SKAGIT COUNTY TRAIL MAINTENANCE ON THE PNT
Want to do some trail work? No matter where you work, wear long pants, have work gloves, have plenty of fluids to drink, and bring a lunch. Each person working will have to sign a liability release form. Parents or guardians of those under 18 must sign for the minor.
For information call 360-424-0407 anytime up until 8 a.m. the morning of the work party. Tools will be provided--hazel hoes, loppers, McLeods, Pulaskis, chain saws, brush cutters. You may bring your own tools if you wish.
If you can only work until noon, please call ahead to see if the work site will be conducive to your leaving early. Sometimes we will be working behind locked gates or far up logging roads and it would not be convenient for people to leave early.
Meeting place is the Cook Road Park-n-Ride, exit 232 from I-5 north of Burlington. Exit the freeway, turn right and then immediately turn right onto Old Highway 99. We meet across the street from the 76 gas station. Meeting time is 8:15 a.m.
GENERAL TRAIL WORK2007 Skagit Trail work schedule for April through OctoberTrail work will be done on the FIRST and THIRD Saturday of each month July 7 and 21August 4 and 18September 1 and 15October 6 and 20

Conservation Report:

Nothing for July.

Trip Report:

Lookout Mountain by Don Jenkins:

DOH! About 5 minutes from the Lookout Mountain trailhead I realized I forget my walking sticks. I am going to blame this on my wife since she was out late with the car and I didn’t have a chance to throw my stuff in the night before the hike. Waking up at 4 AM is not conducive to remembering to pack essential gear. Nice thing about being a teacher is having summers off and weekdays for hiking, except it makes a bit harder to find hiking partners. I resorted to taking the dog, a worthy companion, but she did not chip in for half the gas. The trail was steep, but good, until after the Monogram Lake junction. I had a bit of a route finding problem once the snow made it difficult to keep the trail at about 4200 feet. I thought the trail went behind the ridge, but later realized this was not the case. I continued up until I hit the ridge and some views of Baker and decided to head up the steep ridge. Pretty easy going and decent views until the ridge ended and it looked like I would have to turn around and find a different way down to the saddle which leads to the lookout. I tried some snowfields and bushwhacking to the North, but that didn’t work so I went back on the ridge and had a cheese sandwich to think about what to do. I discovered the saddle was only a couple hundred feet down and I could make my way down. I saw the trail at the saddle and thought I was home free to the lookout. I would have to cross a steep, slippery snowslope or go up it. I thought about trying it a few times and didn’t feel like romancing a tree if a slip occurred, especially being alone, so we both put our tails between our legs and went down. Well, the views below the lookout were fantastic, but I still want to get to the lookout. I knew I made the right decision when I got home and saw my two kids throwing sand at each other. This was a great training hike for the Mt. Rainier charity climb for Big City Mountaineers in August. Thanks again to the club for donating to the cause, so far I a have raised over $2700 with a goal of $3500. If anyone still wants to donate, here is my last shameless plug for donations. Go to the following website: https://ssl.charityweb.net/bcm/summit07/donaldjenkins.htm
or email me for an envelope if you want to donate by check. donzoey@aol.com

Ed. Note:
If you had an outing you would like to describe or embellish, whether the trip was with other SAC members or not, please contact the webmaster and the newsletter editor. Contact information is listed at the end of the newsletter.


Special Announcement/Event:

1. IT'S T-SHIRT ORDERING TIME AGAIN! We're putting in another group order for SAC t-shirts, and the requests are rolling in! Choose between the two logos: the traditional mountain scene OR the new ice axes logo. Pick t-shirt color, print color, youth or adult sizes and style (men's or women's, tank top or regular, sweatshirts with or without hoods). This is not a fundraiser...prices are the cost plus tax. Most everything is $11.00 each....sweats start at $12.00. We'll have the catalogue, samples and all info at the July SAC picnic. Bring your ideas and cash or check. See you there! (or call Maggie at 724-3158)

2. EASY PASS TRAIL WORK 2006 – Lynn is working on getting trail passes from Dan, to give to all the GREAT people who helped with trail work last year. The only problem is I can’t remember who all was there. So far my list includes Brad, Kathy, John, Lester, Jim, Wade, Maggie, George, Roseanne, Lynn, and Corrina. Please contact me if you did trail work with Dan and your name is not on the list. Sorry for the delay! Lynn Postler @ sancho999@comcast.net
 

Officers:

President – Paul Sherman  293-2984 or 391-6078 (cell),  pshermanpt@verizon.net

Vice President – Jeff Smith

Treasurer - Kim Griffith  (360) 419-7480 jkgriffith@gmail.com

Secretary - Angie Vandenhaak Angela.Vandenhaak@wwu.edu  (360) 756-6950

Newsletter - Corrina Marote corrina.marote@gmail.com

Webmaster - Steve Trent skagitalpineclub@comcast.net

Programs - John Seehorn jseehorn@hotmail.com

Lookout - John and Marie Erbstoeszer erbst@cnw.com

Outings - Lynn Postler sancho999@comcast.net

Conservation Com- Maggie Sullivan 724-3158

Social Com- Wade Bessett bessettw@hotmail.com