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September Club
Meeting Wednesday Sept 3rd - 7 pm 911 Center 2911 E College Way Alan Kearney Presentation Alan, professional climber, photographer and writer will come and share with us stories and images of classic climbs in the Northwest. Alan has a personable way of telling tales of his climbing career; he wraps the history, the personalities, the ethics and the mountain into one. Alan has written two books, “Mountaineering in Patagonia” and “Classic Climbs in the Northwest”. He may bring some copies of his later book. (Harold and Maggie will bring refreshments) Secretary’s Report August 6, 2003 President Kathy Monrad opened the meeting at 7:15p.m. Was there any Old Business? No! Any New Business? Yes...lots!: We got a letter from a group called “Mountains to Sound Greenway” - who asked us to help support their cause, which is to try to keep the I-5 corridor from developing any more. Apparently, this group has solicited our help several times over the past few years. Beth Walsh then asked if we had a policy on donations, or maybe we should discuss the SAC policy ie.. should we define our focus, should we keep it local, etc. etc. ... Rick Rogers responded by describing how the club used to, every October, have a meeting where we’d give out donations. Rick then made the following motion: That our executive committee should get together and decide how much money we can donate this year. We then publicize in our September newsletter and at our September meeting our plan for our October-Donation-Fest. Then, at the October meeting, anyone who wants to (does this mean just sac members?) can suggest their favorite charity and give a speal on why we should donate to them. We’d also talk about the saved up solicitations sent to us over the previous year. Then, the group would vote on to whom we?d give donations. Rick’s motion was passed. Rick then said he’d ask Bob Rock to M.C.the October-Donation-Fest, and if not, Rick will volunteer to do it. Then, Thad Hink mentioned that he got a request to put, what sounded like an ad for a business doing a group outing, in our newsletter. He asked what the group wanted to do about it. So, we discussed, back and forth, profit v non-profit dealings with our newsletter and our club. Advertisement for a business vs. public interest/ information groups vs a bunch of climbers wanting to split the cost of an ice-climbing guide for an outing. A motion was made to continue this discussion at our next meeting. Motion was passed. Kathy Monrad said she had just signed an agreement with the 911 Building folks that we agree to keep the meeting room clean and righteous. Beth Walsh brought up a solution for the new SAC Backpacking Class (taught through the Skagit Valley College). Her and Laura Bedford will brainstorm ideas on how to run it. Rick Rogers will get his views on the pros and cons of this last spring class to Beth. George Reeves introduced his son Ian to the club. Ian, now 14, hasn’t decided when or if he’ll take the climbing class . . . but he’s already summited Baker with George and at the printing of this newsletter, will be somewhere on the top of Shuksan! Knowing George, Ian’s probably been up North Twin Sister a zillion times by now!! Way to go Ian! Thanks to Beth Walsh and Laura Bedford for doing a great slide show presentation on the NORTH CASCADES INSTITUTE. (I had no idea of what NCI actually did, I thought they just put on adult nature classes . . .) The NCI is a non-profit organization located in Sedro Woolley and was founded in 1986. Their mission statement is: “Education is the best way to conserve and preserve the North Cascades”. NCI programs can be broken down as follows: 60% Youth Programs, mainly for 4th and 5th graders in Skagit Valley, includes the Mountain School, Watershed Education, Canoe Camp and Girls on Ice (glaciers, that is!). 5% Community Leader Workshops 5% Graduate Program 15% General Public Classes (scholarships are available!) 5% Volunteer Stewardship 10% Teacher Education Workshops An exciting addition to NCI is the North Cascades Environmental Learning Center being built above Diablo Dam on what was an old fishing resort 20 years ago. The Learning Center is being built in conjunction with Seattle City Light as a part of their agreement with the National Park Service to provide a community service. The center will open in the spring of 2004, but Laura runs tours of the construction site. NCI website: http://www.ncascades.org/ or (360)856-5700 ext 309. Thoughts of taking NCI classes to enhance SAC teachers was entertained, as well as sharing NCI contacts for future club programs. The possibilities may be endless!!! The meeting was topped off with Kathy’s delicious peach cobbler and ice cream! Thanks Kathy! (submitted by Maggie for Brian cause no one else would do it, so if I screwed something up, chew me out at the next meeting!) Outings Mountain Biking Trip to the Four Corners I am looking for people to go mountain biking from June 30-July 6th, 2004 (7days, 6 nights) in Colorado and Utah. We would follow the Colorado Hut System. Check out their web site at: www.sanjuanhuts.com Please contact Don Jenkins at 360-679-4410 or email at don.jenkins3@gte.net if interested. These trips are already filling up for 2004 so the sooner the better. Yellow Aster Butte September 13th. Hike to Yellow Aster Butte. Elevation gain 3200ft, to 6100 ft. This outing offers views of peaks N and W of Mt. Baker. If interested contact Glen. 724-5261, gmcmurry@valleyint.com Sauk Mountain September 23 – Sauk Mtn. 4 mi. – Near Rockport is this spectacular lookout towards the Puget Sound. Wide open with numerous switchbacks. Pray for a nice day. To meet at10 am at the Cook Rd Park‘n Ride. Call Ruth if interested at 360-445-3520 or grw.realenergy@verizon.net. Trail Maintenance Come join the Pacific Northwest Trail Association and help with a little trail work this fall to stay in shape for skiing. Work dates include Sept 6 and 20, plus October 4 and 18. Call Lynn for more info at 428-4237 or call PNT direct at 424-0407. See you there! Easy Pass Work (and) Party - We would like the SAC club to help Dan Rogers with some trail maintenance on Easy Pass this fall. This is an annual event and it would be great to see some new faces at the trailhead. Guaranteed to have an adventure and a good time. The bridge is done but there's still lots of work to do on the trail. If you are interested in joining us please call Lynn or Sancho at 428-4237 for more details. Logging Blanchard Mountain - Update Last month, representatives from DNR held a public hearing at the Alger Community Center regarding their plans for logging parts of Blanchard mountain. In February of 2004, they intend to log two areas: Unit 1: A 75 acre thinning located on the north side of the mountain. After harvest, the stand will be fully stocked with about 100 trees per acre. About 0.6 miles of new road construction is planned. About 6,000 yards total of rock will be removed from the south rock quarry for this road construction, for existing road maintenance, and for future road construction Unit 2: About 40 acres of shelterwood will be harvested on the south side of the mountain. This area will retain approximately 20 of the largest trees per acre. The objectives for this “Shenandoah” partial cut timber sale are: to harvest expected tree mortality, maintain appropriate stand stocking, retain mature forest structure, protect water quality, generate trust revenue, resurface existing roads and to avoid disturbance of Bald Eagle nest and potential Marbled Murrelet habitat. DNR management objectives are: to generate revenue for Skagit Co. Forest Board trust, maintain healthy forest ecosystems, protect water quality and unique natural features and to provide multiple use recreation opportunities consistent with trust management. The Trust beneficiaries of the revenue of the Shenandoah timber sale are: Skagit County (general fund and road fund), the Burlington Edison School District, the Port District #2, the Hospital District #304, the Conservation Futures Fund and the State General Fund. Kevin Killian, DNR Hamilton Unit Forester, described in detail their intended logging practices, their concerns and answered a variety of questions. Kevin can be reached at (360) 854-2850 ext. 5109 or by E-mail: kevin.killian@wadnr.gov The foresters at DNR and workers at Northwest Ecosystem Alliance of Bellingham want the public to be involved in the management plans for Blanchard Mountain. NWEA works to place the public values of clean water, quality recreation and wildlife habitat on an equal footing with revenue production in the management of our state forestlands. Hudson Dodd, volunteer and outreach coordinator for NWEA, is organizing specific grass roots efforts which you can take part in to make an impact of the future of Blanchard Mountain. -Volunteer for trailhead outreach, ie.. you either station at the trailhead or hike up Blanchard and talk with other hikers and document their use of Blanchard. You can also hand out informational brochures. At our September SAC meeting, there will be more information regarding trailhead outreach. -Help publicize future public hearings to provide a forum for community involvement. -Help respond to the substance of future DNR management plans. Hudson can be reached at the Northwest Ecosystem Alliance at (360)671-9950 ext 26. (submitted by Maggie Sullivan) Mt. Erie GuideBooks The new guidebook to Mt. Erie rock climbing is still due from the printer. I am planning on being at the October meeting and will hopefully have the new books with me. The guide is $20.00. The guide is 265 pages long, has 17 b/w photos, and covers 481 routes. -Dallas Kloke www.mterienorthcascades.tk Trip Report Brad and Kathy’s Alaska Adventure We just returned from an incredible trip to the Anchorage area. You see, we love Alaska! This was our third trip to the wilds of this great state. The last time was 4 years ago and we spent 5 incredible days in Denali National Park at the end of the road at Wonder Lake, where we were blessed to experience the grandure of Denali for three full days! But this trip we decided to put the packs on and go for an adventure. We left Seattle in 90 degree weather to head for who knows what up there. Bugs, rain, snow? We were prepared for anything. We arrived in Anchorage to good weather and it just kept getting better. We picked up our rental car and headed to our nephew Greg's condo. We found it in no time and proceeded to invade his space pretty convincingly with all our gear. Our first adventure was to visit Humpys for new t-shirts and Halibut burgers before we headed to Girdwood to see some Elvis impersonator sing LED ZEPPLIN on stage with some of the most bizarre, barely dressed band members, screaming and jumping around. They had the almost as bizarre "Girdwood crowd" in a frenzy. Wow what a show and I don't mean the one on stage! We got back late and fell into bed even though it still wasn’t dark and slept late the next morning. Went to the "HOGG BROTHERS CAFE" for breakfast. Then on to REI for fuel, pepper spray, food and maybe some advice on which trail to try. We talked to a nice knowledgeable guy who knew about the trail we wanted to do so we bought a map and a book full of Alaska Hikes and headed back to the condo to pack. We had decided on a 26 mile traverse starting at Crow Creek trailhead, 5 miles out of Girdwood to Eagle River. It is described on a trail marker one mile from the Eagle River Information Center where we ended our trip, it says "The historic Iditarod Trail 1883-1927, from Seward to Nome is 1000 miles long. This portion of the trail over Crow Pass was used as a winter dog sled route until the Alaska Railroad established regular service between Seward and Fairbanks. The trail became virtually impassable through years of limited use. As a Bicentennial project, the Susitna Girl Scout Council has restored some portions of the actual route." This took place in 1971. Now the forest service maintains this section of trail. Greg gave us a ride to the trailhead first thing monday morning. The night before we had dropped our rental car off at the end of the trail in Eagle River. They informed us that the trail had been passable for the last month and that the river ford was doable. The morning we left the trailhead we were to climb a little over 2000 feet to 3500 ft Crow Pass at three miles in. It was a beautiful trek through the amazing Chugach mountains. Upon reaching the Pass we visited the Forest Service cabin available by permit during the summer and fall. There is a guide book about ‘How to Rent A Cabin in Alaska’ and they have public use cabins all over Southcentral Alaska. After our short break, down the valley we travelled. Across snow and moraine we went. The Raven Glacier on our right and Raven creek to our left. Along the way we were fortunate to have near perfect conditions and constant sightings of incredible wildlife. Our first day we saw ptarmigan, marmot, six black bears, one big bull moose right off the trail and three Great Horned owls and scenery to take your breath away! We followed Raven Creek to a bridge overlooking a beautiful water fall cascading down through Raven Gorge. This was another great place to stop and take the packs off and enjoy some rays. We headed down to Raven Ridge spotting the occasional black bear feeding on the hill side as we went. As we entered the timbered ridge and hiked along this new terrain Brad spotted the owls sitting in a tree only about 50 feet off the trail. A momma and her two babies. It was quite a sight. We looked down into the Eagle River Valley where we were heading to and up to the Eagle Glacier that fed Glacier Lake, the headwaters of the Eagle river. We wanted to camp down there so we took a deep breath and away we went. By the time we made it to the river bank we were pretty tired and still needed to find a camp near the ford. Brad found a nice spot near the river ford and we set up camp. We were low on clear water so we made sandwiches for dinner with an avocado I had found up near the pass laying in the snow! It was in perfect shape and we thanked the avocado gods for sending it to us. We had hiked 13 miles that day and after we ate I was just going to take a little nap for a couple of hours then get up and have a look around. I didn’t wake up till 3 am. Yeah it was light out but it was also the middle of the night and Brad was sawing logs pretty good so I rolled over and went back to sleep too. We woke to a beautiful day, had glacier water tea and a Bakers Cookie for breakfast then it was time to pack up and get wet. Just before we made our crossing we spotted a momma moose and her two babies down the bank a ways. She looked as if she might be headed the same way but she stayed where she was. It was a great sight. The river ford was well marked and we wore shorts and sandals, it was also the COLDEST water I had ever experienced. It came clear to my crotch and I had to stop part way through and warm my feet and put socks on to make it. Glad that was over! The last 13 miles of our trip was down the Eagle river drainage. Rocky, washed out, occasional views and beaver ponds made up the last half of our adventure. It had its own beauty, some great waterfalls and camps, but we both longed for the high country! We made our second camp 8 miles later at Heritage Falls, a beautiful spot with a gorgeous waterfall across the river. We got to have a camp fire and Brad was able to visit with several other adventurers. It rained sometime during the night but we woke up to yet another beautiful day and off we went only to find that our trail going right into a big beaver pond. Time to backtrack, we found an obscure route around the end of the pond and we were on our way. Part of the trail was kinda rough. Permanently installed ropes and a ladder help you through the worst of the washed out areas. It was interesting anyway. Also some precarious water crossings that my hero Brad helped me across. On our way we came upon another cow moose right off the trail busy stripping leaves from the branches. We looked for a baby, relieved that we hadn’t come between a cow moose and her baby, that can be more dangerous than a brown bear. Took a picture and away we went. As we got closer to the end of the trail it got wider and better maintained, with a yurt and a cabin for rent and more people. There was still fresh bear sign about every 1/4 mile, there had been a brown bear in this area just 1 mile from the visitors center that had bluff charged some hikers just a few days before. But they had gone in and hazed it with rubber bullets. I had the feeling that with all that sign that it hadn’t gone far. We passed a family out for a stroll, there was an elderly lady of about 70 that was very interested in what we had just done, she was familiar with the trail but had never done it. She told us she was proud of us and you could just tell she would have liked to have been out there. We got to the car about noon and back to Anchorage we went for a quick shower and get the rest of our stuff and up the Parks highway we headed. We stopped in Wasilla for dinner and as we got back on the highway we could see that we were heading into a very wicked looking black sky. We decided to find a place to camp and stopped at Nancy Lakes. As soon as we got the tent set up the storm hit, thunder and lightning and pouring down rain we escaped to the tent. Early to bed early to rise, up and out again to find a gorgeous morning without a cloud in the sky! Off to Talkeetna for breakfast at the Road House. That's where all the climbers hang out. But on a day like this most were either already on the mountain or lining up a flight to Kahiltna international airport. We wished them luck as we sat outside at the picnic table and watched small plane after small plane head for the mountain, and oh what a mountain. Without a cloud in the sky, it dominated the skyline along with Foraker and Huntington they were all absolutely breath taking! After a little shopping we stopped at the Ranger station where there was a Alpine Ascents Van full of climbers getting briefed on their upcoming climb. Brad stood as close as he could to the door to listen in on what they were talking about. More people summit in June than any other month and it looked like the ones that were up there already and were ready to go had a perfect window of opportunity for a summit attempt. There had already been over 100 people who had made it this year. We decided to drive up the Parks highway further to get some pictures of the mountain and to check out the Coal Creek trailhead. We almost did this 27 mile traverse along Kesugi Ridge. In just a little over a mile you get above timberline and up on a ridge leading to the Kesugi Ridge. We hiked up a little over 2 miles and checked out the route, it looked fantastic! Have to save it for next time because now it was time to head back down and back to the city to spend our last couple of days with our good friends Pat and Colleen. We had a great visit, lots of stories, eating and drinking, went to Seward on friday and did the tourist thing. Took in the saturday market in Anchorage and more of the tourist thing before we had to get back to the airport and head for home. It was an incredible trip but a week is not long enough! We'll definitely be back! -Brad & Kathy Monrad PO Box 1054, Mount Vernon, WA 98273 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 Keith Kraft 428-8568 Eric Sandbo 755-0746 Committees Conservation: Fred Darvill 424-5854 Lookout: Fred & Ginny Darvill 424-5854 John & Marie Erbstoeszer 336-5896 Programs: Maggie Sullivan 724-3158 Outings: Lynn Postler 428-4237 lypo@Itis.com Website: Allen Grenz 422-7593 ryan@gotooasys.com Newsletter: Thad Hink 770-4528 sacnews@thinkstudios.net |
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