September 2022 Newsletter

Next Meeting:

Date/Time: Wednesday, September 7, 2022, at 7:00 p.m. at Burlington Public Library.

Topic: 2022 SAC BMC graduates Kathryn, Amelia and Julian will be presenting their own Trip Reports from adventures this summer!

This meeting will be hybrid, so please join us Wednesday, September 7th at 7pm at Burlington Library or on Zoom: Skagit Alpine Club is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. https://us02web.zoom.us/j/83040117759?pwd=b2pPcTJTNGJuNXNJdDUvdW1ucktHQT09

Meeting ID: 830 4011 7759

Passcode: 216651

Upcoming SAC Events:

Park Butte Lookout work party: The Lookout coordinators are finalizing a date in mid-late September for our annual work party. If you like helping to keep these spaces open for the public, painting, cleaning, hanging out with other mountaineers, being in beautiful mountain places, or carrying paint cans up a hill for weight training, this event is for you! We would love to have a strong group of volunteers to help with this event.

Vamos Outdoors Climbing Days: The Vamos Outdoors students had so much fun last March, they kept asking if we could go climbing again! We have set up two more sessions with our Burlington-Edison High School students and Vamos Outdoors at Riverstone Climbing gym and need several volunteers to help belay and encourage students as they start climbing. If you are interested and available to belay at Riverstone on either Saturday, October 22nd and/or Saturday, October 29th 12:00-2:30pm, please complete this form and Juliet will be in touch with more information: https://forms.gle/uEerfSTPxb47YpC26. We would ideally have up to 8 volunteers for each session to give students a lot of hands on instruction.

July Meeting: The Annual SAC Potluck was a success! Delicious foods, lots of laughs, great people, sunshine and a beautiful setting (Bowman’s Bay)! Couldn’t ask for anything more.

Important Club News:

Coordinator(s) needed for next year's Basic Mountaineering Course (BMC).

This year's course has ended and preparations for forest service permits and other planning will need to start as early as late August. After 3 years of running a variety of BMC changes through the pandemic (while also planning a wedding, Covid reception and working full time), I (Juliet) am ready for a change. I would be happy to help co-lead next year, or support if someone (or two) would like to take over. But I will not lead the course on my own again.

I am proud to say that over the last several years we have made a lot of progress documenting course materials and tracking things in the shared folder, to help make it more sustainable for those that are coordinating. If you are interested in helping out, or would like more information about what it entails, reach out to me! Or suggest someone you think would be a good fit! It would be best to have folks starting in the planning stages, and would need to have someone by September to get the whole process started. Thanks all!

SAC Holiday Potluck

This year's holiday potluck and white-elephant exchange (optional) will be on:

Wednesday, December 7th from 6 - 8pm at the Hillcrest Park Lodge in Mount Vernon.

● Bring a potluck dish to share.

● Bring your own beverage of choice. (alcohol is still permitted)

● Bring a wrapped gift for the exchange if you choose to participate.

Hillcrest Park Lodge address: 1717 S. 13th Street, Mount Vernon

SAC Members Trip Reports:

Fred DeVries - 08/13/2022

I Decided to go for a quick trip on Saturday instead of going to a family Yahtzee tournament. Del Campo was the ticket. I arrived at the trail head around 9:30 am. Easy class 4 climbing, 4200 ft gain, 12 miles round trip, and a nice weather forecast. It’s a very popular trail and passed many overnight backpackers trudging their way up with what looked like heavy backpacks. When I arrived at Foggy lake it was misting but pushed on hoping the weather app man was right on afternoon clearing. The route went to the right past Foggy lake and up to a steep patch of snow where I crossed to the right with my trekking poles. From there I climbed some nice rock ascending the right side of Del Campo. When I reached the summit around 1:30 it was still clouded in but decided to eat lunch and wait it out. 2 hrs later visibility was much better and I got to celebrate someone’s birthday with another group of climbers. (Hostess cupcake). Arrived back at the car at 7:30. Overall a great trip.

Mount Baker summit: Juliet, Melissa, Sarah, Kathryn, Julian, Adam, and Amelia submitted via the Easton Glacier route. Got to watch sunrise from the crater and Roman wall, and take a jumping photo in crampons and a narwhal onesie (Juliet)! It was great to get 5 new SAC members up to the summit!

Glacier Peak: This trip was a beautiful three day adventure with JFro, Andrea, Conor, Don, Doug and Juliet. It ticked another Skagit60, finished JFro’s WA volcano list and overall was a beautiful trip!

Rob Smith and Colin Ogilvie summited West McMillan Spire 8/13-8/14.

Andrew Lawrence climbed the Stur Chimney on Mount Heyburn, Idaho's Sawtooth Mountain range. The following three photos are from his trip.

My dad (Tony Bigge) and I (Cameron), did a 2 night backpacking trip up the Green Creek in the Twin Sister Range, 8/26-8/28. Here is a photo of the upper Green Creek Basin and the glacier.

Skagit Alpine Club

P.O. Box 1054

Mount Vernon, WA 98273