8
Mountaineer The www.mountaineers.org April, 2010 Volume 104, No. 4 M2 PBS to air ‘Irate Birdwatcher’ M6 Writing the story of Wolf Bauer M7 A Mountaineers photo ambassador: Sunny Walter M8 New volunteer award established M2 View from the Top M4 Summit Savvy M4 Conservation Currents M7 Off the Shelf M7 Passages Discover The Mountaineers If you are thinking of joining - or have joined and aren’t sure where to start - why not attend an information meeting? Check the Go Guide branch sections for times and locations. Are you ready to jump right in? Visit www.mountaineers.org. No computer? See pg. 18. Need to call? 206-521-6000. PERIODICAL POSTAGE PAID AT SEATTLE, WA The Mountaineers 7700 Sand Point Way N.E. Seattle, WA 98115 Upcoming Upcoming Eddie Bauer presents: Jim Whit- taker, Ed Viesturs and Peter Whit- taker will appear at The Mountain- eers Program Center on Fri., April 30. See more on M8. Help Mountaineers and yourself: Mountain Hardwear and Barnes & Noble are collaborating with The Mountaineers on deals for Moun- taineers members and purchases that that help support The Moun- taineers programs. See the ads on M3 for more details. The monthly publication of The Mountain- eers: Enriching the community by helping people explore, conserve, learn about, and enjoy the lands and waters of the Pacific Northwest. Lisa Parsons photo An evening of legends George MacGowan, Joe Halwax, Wolf Bauer and Jack Hossack (above l to r) cross Lake Chelan on the way to the summit of Mt. Goode in 1936. A team of climbers from the Mazamas were on the same boat, but Bauer (shown at right during an event last spring) and his climbing course graduates made it to the top of Goode first. The Mountaineers will host a convergence of paragons in the realm of mountaineering on April 9 when it fetes Wolf Bauer and the 75th anniversary of The Mountaineers climbing program, largely shaped by Bauer more than 70 years ago. Jim and Lou Whittaker, as well as Dee Molenaar, will join Bauer and biographer Lynn Hyde who recently re- leased Bauer’s life story, “Crags, Eddies & Riprap: The Sound Country Memoir of Wolf Bauer.” O. Phil Dickert photo See M6 for more about Bauer’s book and the Legends event When we try to pick out any- thing by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the uni- verse. –John Muir A my Gulick starts her book of photographs and es- says with Muir’s omniscient observation, because salmon are essentially “hitched” to the trees, as the title of her Mountaineers-pub- lished book avers. Nowhere else in the range of her camera lens exhibits this connection more than the embattled Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska. Gulick’s book, “Salmon in the Trees: Life in Alaska’s Tongass Rainforest,” opens with her ac- Continued on M3 Author to bring story of ‘Salmon in the Trees’ to Mountaineers count of the aquatic stampede that normally precedes the acrid decay of dead, spawned-out, salmon car- casses littering the stream bank: “Crouched on a rock near a churn- ing waterfall, I’m entranced by thousands of salmon thronging in There’s a youth movement afoot! Watch the May Mountaineer Want to be a part? Attend a Seattle Family Activi- ties meeing on April 13. See pg. 10 in this Go Guide for more. Presented by Braided River, a Mountain- eers Publishing imprint, and the Alaska Wilderness League “Salmon in the Trees” With author Amy Gulick Tue., April 27, 7 pm The Mountaineers Program Center Vertical Videos Contest: Awards in excess of $100 are being offered to Mountaineers who can submit a captivating video between now and May 31. The contest is quite sim- ple: make a video that highlights a Mountaineers activity and upload it to YouTube. A panel will go through all the submissions and pick the best videos. Check out www. mountaineers.org for details. Paddle to Seattle show: See the ad on M5 for details.

April 2010 Mountaineers Newsletter

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Citation preview

Page 1: April 2010 Mountaineers Newsletter

MountaineerThe

www.mountaineers.org

April, 2010Volume 104, No. 4

M2 PBS to air ‘Irate

Birdwatcher’

M6 Writing the story

of Wolf Bauer

M7 A Mountaineers

photo ambassador:

Sunny Walter

M8 New volunteer

award established

M2 View from the Top

M4 Summit Savvy

M4 Conservation Currents

M7 Off the Shelf

M7 Passages

DiscoverTheMountaineersIf you are thinking of joining - or have joined and aren’t sure where to start - why not attend an information meeting? Check the Go Guide branch sections for times and locations.Are you ready to jump right in? Visit www.mountaineers.org. No computer? See pg. 18. Need to call? 206-521-6000.

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WA

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, WA

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5

U p c o m i n gU p c o m i n gEddie Bauer presents: Jim Whit-taker, Ed Viesturs and Peter Whit-taker will appear at The Mountain-eers Program Center on Fri., April 30. See more on M8.

Help Mountaineers and yourself:

Mountain Hardwear and Barnes & Noble are collaborating with The Mountaineers on deals for Moun-taineers members and purchases that that help support The Moun-taineers programs. See the ads on M3 for more details.

The monthly publication of The Mountain-

eers: Enriching the community by helping

people explore, conserve, learn about, and

enjoy the lands and waters of the Pacific

Northwest.

Lisa Parsons photo

An evening of legends

George MacGowan, Joe Halwax, Wolf Bauer and Jack Hossack (above l to r) cross Lake Chelan on the way to the summit of Mt. Goode in 1936. A team of climbers from the Mazamas were on the same boat, but Bauer (shown at right during an event last spring) and his climbing course graduates made it to the top of Goode first.

The Mountaineers will host a convergence of paragons in the realm of mountaineering on April 9 when it fetes Wolf Bauer and the 75th anniversary of The Mountaineers climbing program, largely shaped by Bauer more than 70 years ago. Jim and Lou Whittaker, as well as Dee Molenaar, will join Bauer and biographer Lynn Hyde who recently re-leased Bauer’s life story, “Crags, Eddies & Riprap: The Sound Country Memoir of Wolf Bauer.”

O. Phil Dickert photo

See M6 for more about Bauer’s book and the Legends event

When we try to pick out any-

thing by itself, we find it hitched

to everything else in the uni-

verse. –John Muir

Amy Gulick starts her book of photographs and es-says with Muir’s omniscient

observation, because salmon are essentially “hitched” to the trees, as the title of her Mountaineers-pub-lished book avers. Nowhere else in the range of her camera lens exhibits this connection more than the embattled Tongass National Forest in southeast Alaska.

Gulick’s book, “Salmon in the Trees: Life in Alaska’s Tongass Rainforest,” opens with her ac-

Continued on M3

Author to bring story of ‘Salmon in the Trees’ to Mountaineers

count of the aquatic stampede that normally precedes the acrid decay of dead, spawned-out, salmon car-casses littering the stream bank:

“Crouched on a rock near a churn-ing waterfall, I’m entranced by thousands of salmon thronging in

There’sayouthmovementafoot!

Watch the May Mountaineer

Want to be a part? Attend a Seattle Family Activi-ties meeing on April 13. See pg.

10 in this Go Guide for more.

Presented by Braided River, a Mountain-eers Publishing imprint, and the Alaska

Wilderness League

“SalmonintheTrees”With author Amy Gulick

Tue., April 27, 7 pm The Mountaineers Program Center

Vertical Videos Contest: Awards in excess of $100 are being offered to Mountaineers who can submit a captivating video between now and May 31. The contest is quite sim-ple: make a video that highlights a Mountaineers activity and upload it to YouTube. A panel will go through all the submissions and pick the best videos. Check out www.

mountaineers.org for details.✔

Paddle to Seattle show: See the ad on M5 for details.

Page 2: April 2010 Mountaineers Newsletter

M�

April�010 TheMountaineer

Buildingourfutureonthreefronts

The

MountaineerAlso see us on the web at www.mountaineers.org

The Mountaineers is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1906 and dedicated to the responsible enjoyment and protection of natural areas.Board of TrusteesOfficersPresident Eric Linxweiler, 08-10President Elect Tab Wilkins, 08-10Past President Bill Deters, 08-09 VP Properties Dave Claar, 08-10VP Publishing Don Heck, 08-10Treasurer Mike Dean, 08-10Secretary Steve Sears, 08-10

Trustees at largeKirk Alm, 07-10Rich Draves, 08-11Dale Flynn, 07-10Ed Henderson, 08-11Lynn Hyde, 08-11John Ohlson, 09-12Mark Scheffer, 09-12Matt Sulllivan, 09-12Dave Shema, 07-10Mona West, 09-12

Branch TrusteesBellingham, Steven GlennEverett, Rob SimonsenFoothills, Gerry HaugenKitsap, Jimmy JamesOlympia, John FlanaganSeattle, Mike MaudeTacoma, Tom Shimko

Executive DirectorMartinique Grigg

Managing EditorBrad StracenerContributors, proofreaders:Chris Austin, Sue Cromarty, Christine Compton, Jack Edwards, Brian Futch, Jim HarveyPhotographers & Illustrators:O. Phil Dickert, Amy Gulick, Lisa Par-sons, Tab Wilkins THE MOUNTAINEER is published monthly by: The Mountaineers, 7700 Sand Point Way N.E.Seattle, WA 98115206-521-6000; 206-523-6763 faxVolume 104, No. 4The Mountaineer (ISSN 0027-2620) is published monthly by The Moun-taineers, 7700 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115.Members receive a subscription as part of their annual dues. Approximately $12.42 of each member’s annual membership dues is spent to print and mail this publication. Non-member subscriptions to The Mountaineer are $32. Periodicals postage paid at Seat-tle WA.Postmaster: send address changes to The Mountaineer, 7700 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115. Opinions expressed in articles are those of the authors and do not nec-essarily represent the views of The Mountaineers.

View from the Top

Mission and purposesTo enrich the community by helping people

explore, conserve, learn about, and enjoy the

lands and waters of the Pacific Northwest.

“To explore and study the mountains, forests and other water courses of the Northwest and beyond;

“To preserve by example, teaching and encouragement of protective legislation our special places;

“Add value to our member’s and our community by providing youth and adult outdoor education opportunities.”

Who ya gonna call? Your mentor, of courseAre you a new member wondering about the how-to, where-to and what-to-do with

your club? There are a number of resources available to you, not the least our

websites. Now there is also a real, live person. If you want to know about expected

conditioning for a hike, what not to wear, how to sign up for events or whatever call

or e-mail the “mentor of the month.” Mona West is this month’s mentor. Feel free to

contact her at [email protected] with your questions or comments.

Read The Mountaineer/Go Guide online, too!Did you know you can find The Mountaineer and the Go Guide online? Visit

www.mountaineers.org and go to “monthly mangazine” in the top menu bar.

Erratum: In the March issue of The Mountaineer, it was reported that the

House bill number pertaining to reinstatement of funds for keeping ac-

cess to some popular Department of Natural Resources trailheads open

was HB2840. It was actually HB2480. We apologize for the typographical

miscue.

Hello, fellow Mountaineers. Upon starting my term as Mountaineers president,

Executive Director Martinique Grigg and I agreed to alternate the writing of “View from the Top.” This month it is my turn.

First, an introduction is probably appropriate. I joined The Mountain-

eers in 2000 after trying to reach Wagon Wheel Lake in the Olym-pics. Clad in jeans and a

cotton t-shirt on a snow-covered avalanche chute, I found myself asking, “ah….what now”? So, I joined the Tacoma Branch and began a journey that led to hiking, scrambling, climbing, skiing and moving from Tacoma to “the big city” of Seattle.

Last year not only did I cross that avalanche chute but I scrambled nearby Copper Mountain using many of the skills learned from Mountaineers courses.

Although we have recently gone through some major transitions in terms of club leadership, we still have a lot of work to do if we wish

to thrive for the next 100 years.

Just last week I had the pleasure of seeing one of our oldest club members, Wolf Bauer (98 years old, 81 years a Mountaineer – con-gratulations!) be recognized by the Washington State Legislature for his accomplishments in moun-taineering and his role in estab-lishing institutions we today take for granted, such as our climbing program, Mountain Search and Rescue, Washington Kayak Club and Washington Environmental Council, to name a few.

His comment to me: “What are you doing to build for the future?”

Well, we have several major issues that our board will be focusing on. First among them is supporting growth and retention in member-ship while maintaining a positive, effective relationship with the public at large.

Second among them is ensuring that our internal financial structure supports our long-term survival, including development of new funding sources and the pursuit of 501(c)3 tax status for our organiza-tion. (Imagine, some of your dues might become tax deductible.)

A third issue is maintaining and improving upon the strong assets

of our organization that we rely upon; branches, volunteers, lodges and properties, programs, activi-ties, publishing, conservation and recreation access. They are vital to achieving our goals.

It is wonderful to have Martinique on board. She is burning the midnight oil to figure out ways to

by our members as well as by the public.

The key to this transition is a new bimonthly magazine that focuses on our mission, objectives and activities while more effectively promoting The Mountaineers to the general public. Even more crucial to the transition is the input from every branch and level of The Mountaineers—something that Martinique has emphasized as we proceed with our strategic plan.

Speaking for all of the officers and leadership, we want to hear from all of you. I can guarantee that we will listen, and though I can’t say your thoughts will always be acted upon or agreed with, your input is important to how we set the stage for the next 100 years. My e-mail is [email protected] and my phone number is 253-468-8713. Drop me a line.

By Tab Wilkins, president

“We want to hear from you”execute our plans. In doing so, she is bringing a new approach to the changes ahead by reaching out to all levels of our organization for input and energy. One example of this is the plan to transform our printed activity and course news-letter, the Go Guide, into a more robust electronic format that offers easier reference and participation

What can $73 a year get you? Sometimes a wilderness areaWhen you join The Mountaineers you join a partner in the lobby for wilderness pres-ervation, including our most recent col-laboration: the Wild Sky Wilderness Area.

Page 3: April 2010 Mountaineers Newsletter

M�

April�010TheMountaineer

a pool. Fin to fin, tail to tail, they sway against the current as one giant mob, like concert groupies in a mosh pit. I forget that they are in-dividual fish until one springs from the crowded stream, hurling itself against the foaming wall of water. And then another, and another. Fish after fish, leap after leap, so much energy expended, so much energy delivered . . .

“ . . . Hours vaporize, like the mist rising into the forest from the spray of the waterfall. But for the salmon every minute is precious because their time is coming to an end. They’ve stopped eating. They’re in their final act—spawning—and they won’t stop pushing upstream until they die.”

In her book, Gulick focuses her lens on the cargo of nutrients stored in the armada of silvery, dying vessels that survive the perils of the sea, its predators, its fishing nets, sport anglers’ hooks and the gaping mouths of bears at every turn of the river where even more commercial nets await. These vessels of protein die in the headwaters of their birthplace to perform what in human terms might be called the ultimate act of love—ensuring a future for their dependents: the riverine creatures fattening up before winter, the soil under foot and ultimately a sea of conifers making up America’s largest national forest, or nearly one-third of the world’s remaining old-growth temperate rainforest.

In her introduction to “Salmon in the Trees,” Gulick depicts the post-spawning scene:

“In a few weeks, the only visible ev-idence of what took place here will be spawned-out carcasses littering the stream banks. The cleanup crews of birds, otters and mink will

fertilized with supercharged soil from decayed fish, will sprout new growth come spring.

“And the salmon? Those who survived their time in the ocean, dodged the hooks, nets, beaks, and jaws of predators, and returned to their birth streams to spawn and

microbes, stream invertebrates, mammals and birds—the creatures who literally share the villages of people who depend upon these creatures for sustenance.

Gulick so eloquently points out:

“The Tongass is a place where people live with salmon in their streets and bears in their back-yards. It’s a land of remarkable contrasts. One of the world’s largest densities of brown bears is 20 minutes by floatplane from the internet cafes and 30,000 residents of Juneau, the capital of Alaska. Cruise ships carrying more than 2,000 passengers ply the same waters as mom-and-pop fishermen.

“That the modern world has arrived and hasn’t yet broken the circle of life in the 21st century Tongass is nothing short of astounding.”

But, Gulick warns, “We’re on our way to carving up this extraordinary forest, and it may just be a matter of time. We only have to look south to the once-magnificent salmon rainforests of Washington, Oregon, and northern California to see how quickly we can decimate ancient trees, wild salmon, and a rich way of life.”

Gulick will present a slideshow, a discussion and sign books at The Mountaineers Program Center on Tue., April 27, at 7 p.m. The event is sponsored by The Mountaineers publishing imprint, Braided River, and the Alaska Wilderness League. For more information, go to the Braided River website: www.braidedriver.org/br-cam-paigns/upcoming/salmon-in-the-trees.

mountaineersmembers only

night

Thursday, april 22 4:00 –8:00 pM4Mountaineers receive 30% off their

purchases during the event4Meet the store employees

4 learn about new 2010 products and innovations from Mountain hardwear

4door prizesThe

Mountaineersw w w . m o u n t a i n e e r s . o r g

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Continued from M1

Tongass: a community of villagers, salmon, bears and forest

Bookfair ID: 10100030*The purchase of gift cards, Barnes & Noble memberships, textbooks, video games, digital devices including nook, purchases made at Cafes owned and operated by Starbucks and other items Barnes & Noble may exclude from time to time in its sole discretion are not in-cluded in bookfair totals. Institutional discounts may not be applied. See bn.com/bookfairs for more details and to shop online.

BUY A BOOKFROMApril 3

throughApril 8

ORwww.bn.com/bookfairs

Support the MountaineersOn Saturday, April 3, Mountaineers author Craig Romano (Day Hiking: Olympic Peninsula) will give a presentation at the Silverdale Barnes & Noble store. During the event, and for the week following it, Barnes & Noble will generously donate 20% of its proceeds for every customer who presents this ad with their purchase.

This promotion is good at ANY Barnes & Noble bookstore and online at www.bn.com/bookfairs from April 3-8. Share this ad with friends, family and everyone you know - there are no restrictions on who can use this! For more information, visit www.mountaineers.org or contact [email protected]

“These salmon live on in frolicking spring cubs, plump blueberries, new growth rings

in tree trunks . . .”scour the remains. Heavy fall rains will wash the fish bones out to sea, and bears will curl up in their dens as snow dusts the mountaintops.

“. . . Bald eagles, fueled by salmon, will soar greater distances to find food during the lean winter months. Female bears, padded with fat reserves, will give birth in their dens and nurse their tiny cubs with salmon-enriched milk. The forest,

die are still here. These salmon live on in frolicking spring cubs, plump blueberries, new growth rings in tree trunks, and downy eaglets perched in their nests. And the next generation of salmon is swaddled in the streams and incubated by the forest. The fertilized eggs will soon hatch, ensuring that the cycle of life is a circle, always flowing, never broken. In the Tongass, what goes around comes around.”

Researchers in Washington state have discovered that salmon pro-vide food for at least 137 species—

Amy Gulick points her lens at the chain of life perpetuated by salmon.

Page 4: April 2010 Mountaineers Newsletter

M�

April�010 TheMountaineerCan you identify the summit in

the foreground here? Send your answer

(by March 10) by post or e-mail: brads@

mountaineers.org; Summit Savvy, The

Mountaineer, 7700 Sand Point Way

N.E., Seattle, WA 98115. If you guess

correctly, you’ll receive $10 of Moun-

taineers Money, good for Mountaineers

Bookstore merchandise, and we’ll

publish your name in next month’s

column. (In case of a tie, one winner will

be chosen at random.) Club employees

or persons shown in the photograph are

not eligible. Each month we’ll publish a

new mystery summit and identification

of the previous one.

■ Send your photographs (or slides) for possible publication as a mystery summit (include identification for our benefit). If we use your photo, you will get $10 of Mountaineers Money as well.

■ At the end of each year, all correct respondents’ names are placed in a hat and the winner of that drawing will receive $50 of Mountaineers Money good for purchases at The Moun-taineers Bookstore.

■ No one correctly guessed last month’s mystery summit, Golden Horn, as photographed by Curt Baxstrom.

Summit Savvy

conservationCURRENTS

By Leesa WrightPublic Policy Associate

The Mountaineers joined a host of other recreation and conservation organizations in Washington, D.C., at the end of February for Hike the Hill, a trails advocacy rally hosted by the American Hiking Society and the Partnership for the National Trails System.

More than 100 hiking advocates from throughout America partici-pated, including representatives from the Backcountry Horseman of America, The Conservation Fund, Outdoor Foundation, The Trust for Public Land, Student Conserva-tion Association, National Wildlife Federation, Outdoor Nation, and The Wilderness Society. Also in attendance were representatives from 27 individual National Scenic and Historic trails.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) was among many of the issues addressed at the event. An article in this column from the November 2009 issue of The

Mountaineer featured the LWCF and its failure to provide funding originally earmarked to trails.

Signed into law in 1964 with strong bipartisan support, the LWCF act authorized Congress to provide LWCF up to $900 million per year from federal oil and gas leases on the outer continental shelf. Unfor-tunately, over the years, appro-priations to the LWCF have only averaged around 11 percent of the available funds per year. In some years, all revenue was diverted to the general fund and the LWCF received zero dollars. Only twice in its 46-year history has the LWCF

been funded at the full funding level.

Hiking advocates met with U.S. Forest Service (USFS) represen-tatives to discuss recommenda-tions for increasing LCWF fund-ing. USFS Chief Tom Tidwell and Deputy Chief Joel Holtrop urged hiking advocates to look to conser-vation and restoration, instead of recreational access, when pursuing projects that seek LWCF revenues. The USFS is now stressing resto-ration of forests for sustainability and and improved resiliency so that forests can become more adaptive.

Following are some other topics of regional significance addressed at Hike the Hill:

Pacific Crest TrailHistorically the 2,650 miles that make up the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT) have received only a fraction of the federal resources received by its sister trail to the east—the Appalachian Trail. There remain 307 miles of right-of-way ease-ments on private land that need to be purchased to complete the PCT. Also, the threat of urban encroach-ment is now pressing on what were once remote sections of the trail.

In 1999 the National Park System announced its intent to make fewer congressional requests for land-ac-quisition funding along the Appala-chian Trail. PCT supporters hoped this would improve availability of funding for the PCT, but this has not been the case. During Hike the Hill, members of the Pacific Crest Trail Association asked members of Congress to support allocation of funds from the LWCF to go toward

purchase of PCT right-of-way ease-ments.

If the PCT holds a special place in your heart, contact the members of Congress representing our state to let them know you support using funds from the LWCF to finally fin-ish the PCT after a 40-year wait.

Volunteer “Vacations”

If you’d like to become an advocate for hiking without going all the way to Washington, D.C., try participat-ing in one of the 52 American Hik-ing Society sponsored “Volunteer Vacations.” These trail stewardship opportunities take place on public lands across the country. The proj-ects consist of 6-10 days of work for a crew of 6-15, plus a crew leader, and include plenty of down time to enjoy the beautiful outdoor settings and camaraderie.

Iron Goat Trail

This project in the Mt. Baker-Sno-qualmie National Forest consists of building a connector trail from Martin Creek to the trailhead of the Kelly Creek trail in the newly designated Wild Sky Wilderness. The work, to be done July 10-17, will include digging, grubbing and grading, building rock walls, and installing culverts and other drain-

age features on a new trail.

Work may also include mainte-nance on previously constructed and heavily used trail portions. The area is steep and heavily wooded. The hike from the parking lot to the worksite—at the start and end of each day—will be 1.5 miles. Work will take place in a wilderness area, so only hand tools will be used.

This Volunteers for Outdoor Wash-ington project is rated moderate to difficult. Contact Dennis Evans, [email protected], to sign up. Volunteers will stay at The Mountaineers Stevens Lodge.

South Coldwater and Lakes Trail

This project in the Mount St. Hel-ens National Volcanic Monument involves work along numerous slide areas of the Lakes Trail. The work, to be done July 31-Aug. 8, will consist of tread reconstruction, log bucking and trimming over-grown brush. Volunteers will pack their gear and tools six miles to the base-camp site and hike up to two miles a day to the work area.

Camping will be in primitive back-country. This project is rated very strenuous. Contact the Mount St. Helens Institute for details: http://mshinstitute.org

Hike the Hill brings trail issues to the fore in D.C.

Hike the Hill trail advocates lobbied their lawmakers to route funds for easement acquisitions that would complete the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail.

Dep

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Page 5: April 2010 Mountaineers Newsletter

M�

April�010TheMountaineer

Summer 2010

Conceived by John-Michael TebelakMusic and new Lyrics by Stephen Schwartz

July 31,

August 1

7, 814, 15

21, 22

2:00 pm

Spring 2010 May 30, 31June 5, 6 12, 13 19, 202:00 pm

KITSAP FOREST THEATER

Escape to the Kitsap Forest Theater, located a short drive from the Bremerton ferry. Enjoy a great day trip with friends and family!

Picnic under the firs before you stroll down the forested trail to our unique and magical theater! Call today for tickets: 800-573-8484.

Shows presented by The Mountaineers Players Tickets available at www. ForestTheater.com

The local public television station, KCTS 9, has announced it will air a half-hour version of the “The Irate Birdwatcher” on three evenings in early April.

The Crest Pictures production, presented to Mountaineers as a 55-minute video last year, features a script consisting of words from the late Harvey Manning, a Mountaineers editor and author as well as an ardent defender of wild places in the Pacific Northwest. “Irate Birdwatcher” was Manning’s pen name while writing and editing for the Wild Cascades conservation journal.

The movie uses some of Manning’s poetic descriptions of wild places over the decades to unveil the beauty of Washington’s wildest places and pro-pound the need to stand up and fight for their survival, just as Manning did up to the time he died in November 2006.

While backpacking and climbing over the past few years in the Cascades and Olympics with Kathy, his wife and co-producer, Robert Chrestensen filmed “Irate Birdwatcher.”

PBStobroadcasthalf-hourversionof‘TheIrateBirdwatcher’

Washington’s National Park Fund (WNPF) will hold a fundraising event at The Mountaineers Program Center on Fri., April 23 at 6:30 p.m. Those buying tickets to the event will be able to meet park superintendents, park rangers and their staffs, along with board members of the fund.

For more information about the event, visit www.wnpf.org. Tickets for the Signs of Spring Benefit can be obtained through TicketLeap.com.

Also featured in the movie are several still images taken by local climbing photographers including Seattle legend Tom Miller, a Mountaineer, and the up-and-coming Jason Hummel of Tacoma.

While the film is first and foremost about wilderness preservation—espe-cially in our own backyard—it is also meant it to serve tribute to Manning and his unflagging crusade to protect the wilderness and our “wildness within.”

The KCTS broadcast dates are Thu., April 1, at 10:30 p.m., Mon., April 5, at 4:30 a.m., and Sun., April 11, at 6 p.m. For more about the film, visit www.crestpictures.com/irate_birdwatcher. The video, which wasn’t available for sale last year when it was shown at The Mountaineers Program Center, can now be purchased through KCTS’s Channel 9 Store.

Mountaineerstohostparkfundraiser

The Annual Washington Coast Cleanup will be held Sat., April 17, along the Olympic Peninsula coastline. Washington CoastSavers, a program of the Washington Clean Coast Alliance, encourages all trail users and beach-combers to register for the cleanup crews.

Last year, nearly 3,000 volunteers removed more than 64 tons of marine debris. The flotsam often entangles and kills sea life or releases toxins fatal to sea life.

Some branches of The Mountaineers are organizing groups to camp over-night and help with the cleanup. See individual branch listings in the Go

Guide for more details or visit the CoastSavers at www.coastsavers.org.

AnnualcoastcleanuptobeheldApril17

SEATTLEPADDLE to

Journey through the Inside Passage

Thursday, April 297 pm @ The Mountaineers Program Center

Tickets: $10 members/$15 general

Paddle to Seattle is an independent documentary that chronicles the progress of two adventurers as they paddle the Inside Passage in two handmade Pygmy kayaks. The film follows their journey along the 1,300 mile route, where brown bears own the shores, rain falls for weeks at a time and the paddlers experience surreal encounters with marine life. Join us for the Seattle premiere of this humorous and captivating film, with paddler Josh Thomas in attendance.

ountaineers Productions

Despite Washington’s abundance of free-flowing rivers only six have some protection under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, whereas parts of 60 rivers in Oregon are designated Wild and Scenic.

On Thu., April 15, The Mountaineers Program Center will host a meeting to discuss Washington rivers identified for protection, the status of cur-rent campaigns and ways to help. Representatives from American Rivers, American Whitewater, The Mountaineers and Washington Wilderness Coalition will be present at the meeting, which will start with a reception at 6 p.m. The program will start at 7 p.m. It is open to the public.

Wildrivervoidtobetopicofmeeting

Page 6: April 2010 Mountaineers Newsletter

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April�010 TheMountaineer

Editor’s note: In the book, “Crags,

Eddies & Riprap: the Sound Coun-

try Memoir of Wolf Bauer.” Bauer’s

biographer, Lynn Hyde, opens with

the following:

“I first started hearing Wolf Bauer’s name bandied around at the

turn of the current century. As a member of The Mountaineers, Washington’s oldest and largest outdoors and conservation club, I kept hearing Wolf’s name con-nected to disparate arenas.

There was the Wolf Bauer whose ski racing team set the course record for the grueling and famous Ski Patrol Race of the 1930s. There was the Wolf Bauer who made the first summit of Mt. Rainier from the north side, up Ptarmigan Ridge. There was the Wolf Bauer who founded the club’s pivotal climb-ing program and taught world-re-nowned mountaineers, Jim and Lou Whittaker, how to climb.

A certain Wolf Bauer introduced “foldboating” and started up what was to become the Wash-ington Kayak Club. Then there was that Bauer guy who helped start the Mountain Rescue Council, one of the first orga-nized mountain rescue groups in the United States.

Were these Wolf Bauers really all the same guy?”Indeed they are, and in this book, Hyde, a school teacher by profes-sion who joined The Mountaineers in 1993, when Bauer had already belonged to the organization for 64 years, examines each and every Bauer. In doing so, she also examines a rich history of not only mountaineering, but boating, skiing and geography as it pertains to the river and marine environment of the Northwest.

The Mountaineer spoke with Hyde recently to gain her perspectives on the book and on the life of one of the most omnipresent Mountain-eers ever. Following is the question and answer conference:

Q. When did you decided to en-deavor in Wolf Bauer’s biography?

Hyde: I started working with Wolf around 2004 when I was research-ing the history of the club at Snoqualmie Pass. His name kept coming up, and (former executive director) Steve Costie kept saying someone ought to write his biogra-phy.

After Lowell Skoog did a piece on Wolf for his Northwest Mountain-

Following the many tracks and talents of Wolf Bauer

eering Journal, I contacted Lowell to see if he had plans or the desire to write a book. But he was so im-mersed in his history of Northwest ski mountaineering, that he gave me the go-ahead to try it myself.

Once I decided to do it, Fran Troje introduced me to Wolf. She had known him well during her kayak-ing days.

Q. Had you ever done one before?

Hyde: I'd never written a biogra-phy before, but in my days as a grad student, and as a teacher, I had some experience in academic research. Wolf's project, of course, was a lot more fun, because I got to partner with my subject. And he's never boring. Nor are his friends!

Q. Which of the many-faceted Wolfs was the most elusive, the hardest to gain material on?

Hyde: Well, Wolf is from a more private generation than ours, so he definitely had subjects he didn't want to talk about, like family busi-ness and religion. He was much more forthcoming as time went on, but we decided together that those subjects weren't a part of the story we were telling.

The only subject I ever pushed him on was his experience as a Ger-man-American during World War II. I addressed it in the book, but Wolf is like many German-Americans in preferring to let those stories fade away. (Anyone interested in learning about the internment of Germans in the U.S. during World War II should track down Otto Trott's biography, “The Making of a Rescuer,” by his son-in-law, Nicho-las Corff.)

Q. What does his story tell us as a community of outdoor enthusiasts, and even as a community in a broader sense?

Hyde: Wolf is a really strong model for all of us on many levels. His generation had a sense of commu-nity that we simply can't duplicate,

no matter how many Facebook friends we have.

He has always been a strong be-liever in preparing well to play hard, so his courses in climbing and in kayaking were very focused on marrying safety to excitement. He has never believed in thrill-seeking for its own sake, though it's some-times hard to believe, looking at the old photos of his early climbs.

He is always deeply interested in the journey, not just the destination, and that sense of exploration and wonder explains why he never lim-ited himself to just one recreational discipline. The natural world is his religion, and he has worshipped it in many ways.

For The Mountaineers, I think he is the best model of a marriage be-tween recreation and conservation. He was playing when he began to worry about his playground, and he gradually transitioned from a pad-dler to a one-man navy, defend-ing shoreline systems throughout Puget Sound and beyond.

Even as a die-hard tree-hugger, he never imagines a landscape with-out someone there to enjoy it.

Q. So many famous Mountaineers

are by nature humble and eschew notice or publicity. Did you find this a challenge in regard to getting all the facts you needed from Wolf?

Hyde: I wouldn't say it was all that hard to crack the humility fac-tor. He's modest, but he's not a toe-in-the-sand-aw-shucks kind of guy. Wolf is well aware of how important everything he has done is, and yet he seems to feel that it wasn't anything spectacular be-cause it was easy for him. It would have been harder for Wolf to do nothing.

So even though he felt very strongly that everyone should do what they can for the good of the community, he understood that not everyone has his volcanic source of energy or his genius for getting things done.

I was always amused to find things he had done that he had forgotten about, like being one of the found-ers of the Washington Environ-mental Council, or of American Whitewater. I'd find out somewhere else and then scold him, "Why didn't you tell me you did that?" and he'd ponder a moment and say, "Did I do that? I guess I did. It sounds like something I would do."

Bauer (second from left) stands with a cast of mountaineering legends in the State Capitol during the passage of a House resolution recognizing Bauer’s contributions to outdoor education and safety. To his left stands Lou Whittaker and to his right, Ed Viesturs and Dee Molenaar.

Tab

Wilk

ins

phot

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An Evening of Legends Fundraiser: Fri., April 9, 6 p.m. at The Mountaineers Program Center. Visit www.mountaineers.org or call 206-521-6001

Jack Hossack, George MacGowan and Wolf Bauer (l to r) prepare for Goode in this photo taken by team member Phil Dickert.

Page 7: April 2010 Mountaineers Newsletter

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April�010TheMountaineer

Passages

Would you like to hike Grand Canyon National Park, bike the Himalayas, climb El Potrero Chico in Mexico or do something more local, like climbing in Port-

land? If the answer is yes, then check out our list of new books in the circulat-

ing collection:

Digital Photography Outdoors; Discovering the Wonders of the Wonderland Trail: Encircling Mount Rainier; Don’t Get Sunburned; Eiskalt: Wasserfallklettern in der Schweiz; Emerald City: An Environmental History of Seattle; Exit 32: North Bend Rock; The Face: Six Great Climbing Adventures; 50 Hikes in Alaska’s Kenai Penin-sula; First Fifty Years of the British Mountaineers Council; Fixing Your Feet: Preven-tion and Treatments for Athletes; Forget Me Not: A Memoir; Fred Beckey Stories: A Tribute to a Climbing Legend.

Freshwater Mussels of the Pacific Northwest; Fun Climbs: Red Rocks; German and Belgian Rock Climbs; Getting Green Done: Hard Truths from the Front Lines of the Sustainability Revolution; Glacier Travel & Crevasse Rescue; Grand Canyon and the American Southwest; Great Atlas Traverse: Morocco (Vols. 1-2); High Country Stone: Rock Climbing in the Gunnison and Crested Butte Area; High Ambition: A Biography of Reinhold Messner; High Over Boulder; Hiker’s Guide to Idaho; Hiker’s Guide to the Superstition Wilderness; Hiking Grand Canyon National Park; Hiking Idaho; Himalaya by Bike; Island Alpine: A Guide to the Mountains of Strathcona Park and Vancouver Island; Island Turns & Tours: Backcountry Skiing and Snow-boarding, Strathcona Park and Vancouver Island.

K2 and Northern Baltoro Mustagh; Kayak Routes of the Pacific Northwest Coast (from Northern Oregon to British Columbia’s North Coast); Kilimanjaro & East Af-rica: A Climbing and Trekking Guide; Klettersteig: Scrambles in the Northern Lime-stone Alps; Lake Tahoe Bouldering; Last River: The Tragic Race for Shangri-la; Lighten Up: A Complete Handbook for Light & Ultralight Backpacking; Lightweight Backpacking and Camping; Live Generously; More Scrambles in the Canadian Rockies; Mount Whitney: The Complete Trailhead to Summit Guide; Mountaineer-ing First Aid: A Guide to Accident Response and First Aid Care; Natural Areas of the San Juan Islands; No Shortcuts to the Top; One Hundred Years of Rock Climbing in the Lake District; Pacific Northwest Trail Guide: The Official Guidebook for Long Distance & Day Hikers; Paddling Alaska: A Guide to the State’s Classic Paddling Trips; Passes of Colorado: An Encyclopedia of Watershed Divides; Pickets and Dead Men: Seasons on Rainier; Portland Rock Climbs; Potrero Selects: Select Climbs of El Potrero Chico; Resurrection: Glen Canyon and a New Vision for the American West.

By Sue Cromarty

Picture two women struggling through the snow toward a view of the Reifel wintering eagles, lugging a monster camera lens in a plywood box the size of a miniature fridge, stopping every few minutes to un-cramp our hands. That was my first Mountaineers photo field trip and it was with the inde-fatigable Sunny Walter. That trip summed her up so well: energetic, nuts about wildlife and a great photographer who knew what it takes to get the good shots. She’d also started to put the muscle on me to volunteer for the Photo Committee.

Sunny joined The Mountaineers in 1981 and, as with all things she did, she jumped in with both feet—taking the scrambling course and joining the na-scent Photography Committee. In those days the monthly photo meetings were at the Elliott Bay Books basement because it had a projector. She was soon serving as committee chair and was instrumental in advancing the committee’s work. Sunny also served as trip coordinator, helped to start

the Basic Photography Class and the Pro Lecture Series. She again served as chair a decade later.

Sunny also started the Seattle Branch Leadership Com-mittee, initiating courses in leadership.

She recounted her first photo field trip, when she was told

that unless a leader was found, it would be canceled. She wanted to go on the field trip so badly that she stepped up as leader.

Sunny was a driving force behind energetic photo field trips to Shi Shi Beach, the ski lodges, cross-country skiing, Death Valley, Yellowstone and the Albuquerque New Mexico Hot Air Balloon Festival. At times Sunny brought biologists on trips. One such friend used his ability to “speak owl,” calling in a variety of owls—including natural enemies—to the nearby trees. She chronicled all her trips in a database which later grew into a book, “Washington Nature Weekends: Fifty-Two Adventures in Nature with Janet O’Mara.”

To paraphrase Sunny’s own words, her love of nature nourished her through the years. When she first got into photography, she spent every weekend in the mountains or on the coast in search of that perfect image. Later she would use her photography in service to environmental causes, donating her images and taking on assignments for many environmental organizations.

According to Mountaineers Publisher Helen Cherullo, Sunny worked closely with photographer Subhankar Banerjee as he was “frantically taking images” in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge for his influential book, “The Arctic National Wildlife Refuge: Seasons of Life and Land.” Cherulo noted, “He would send film to Sunny and Julian Sayers to develop and they would let him know over tenuous satellite phone connections if he got anything.” Sunny also helped to financially support Banerjee’s efforts, according to Cherullo. “She was an incredible friend and supporter of his important work,” Cherullo added.

Sunny held a special passion for animals. Much of her photography was of wildlife—birds, elk, deer, and marmots—whatever crossed her lens. But city critters held a special place in her affections. The back deck was adorned with a neighborhood of bird feeders. Out front, a pond was dug that attracted noisy little green frogs. Last summer, a butterfly watering hole was installed in the hope of attracting them (no luck). At one point guests were treated to turtles in the bathtub. But the ultimate accommodation was a custom-made cat door leading to a private cat balcony.

Some people get noticed in a crowded room; that was Sunny. But Sunny noticed the newcomers in a crowded room and greeted them with an invita-tion to join the group. That was part of her genius for organization.

SunnyWalter:anambassadorforphotogroup

ThelatestfromyourMountaineersLibraryOff the shelf

By Dennis Sampson, Chair of the Library Committee

She generously gave her time to many organizations besides The Moun-taineers, including Eastside Audubon, Northwest Council of Camera Clubs and the Boeing Employees Photographic Society.

Sunny died Feb. 25, 2010, at the age of 72. As of press time, memorial service were being planned for April through Eastside Audubon. Also, the Photography Committee will feature a slideshow about Sunny at its next monthly meeting on April 21. See Seattle Photography in the Go Guide for details.

PaulineKatsanis:folk-dancingenthusiastPauline Loraine (Hackett) Katsanis, a 25-year member of The Mountain-eers and beloved wife of Theodore ‘Ted’ Katsanis, died Feb. 26, 2010, at the age of 85. Besides her activity and volunteer involvement with The Mountaineers folk-dancing group, she was also active with the Campfire Girls, the Bellevue Women’s Club and her church, the most recent being the Bellevue Christian Church. A native of Seattle where she attended pub-lic school, she met her husband at a folk-dancing class.

Sunny Walter

Page 8: April 2010 Mountaineers Newsletter

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April�010 TheMountaineer

Guided Treks & Tours, Expeditions and Northwest Climbs & Courses

A newly established volunteer award was presented to Eric Linxweiler and Mona West (each holding their plaques above). Mountaineers President Tab Wilkins (second from left) and Executive Director Martinique Grigg (far right) presented the award to them.

NewawardrecognizesvolunteereffortsbeyondthecallofdutyThe Service Award Committee of The Mountaineers presented a new award at the March board of trustees meeting.

According to President Tab Wilkins, the annual award will be given to persons who within the last year have dem-onstrated leadership and significant contributions to The Mountaineers, The award complements the Service Award which celebrates a person’s life work with The Mountaineers.

“We established the award to recog-nize persons early in their career of contributing to The Mountaineers who demonstrate the potential for significant contribution in future years—working towards a lifetime of service and lead-ership across the club,” noted Wilkins.

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Partner with us in the fight against pediatric AIDS while having fun! American Foundation for Children with AIDS provides life saving medicine, supplies and food to children who have been infected with HIV/AIDS in Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Democratic Republic of Congo. Climb Up So Kids Can Grow Up consists of events which raise awareness and funds to support this mission.

CLIMB UP KILIMANJARO—February 5–16, 2011Join us on this incredible adventure which benefits children affected by the AIDS pandemic. Team up with a group of climbers as they travel to Tanzania where they will climb up Mount Kilimanjaro while getting to see a bit of the African continent.

Visit our website for more information on this event and others:

www.ClimbUpSoKidsCanGrowUp.com

Eric Linxweiler, former president, and Mona West, a board member, were presented the award at the board meeting of March 4 for their volunteer roles as staff administrators last sum-mer. West served as volunteer interim executive director during the board’s search for a new director and Linxwei-ler coordinated several administrative tasks.

The Mountain-eers will host an Eddie Bauer presentation, “A Life on the

Edge,” with Jim Whittaker on Fri., April 30, a day before the 47th anniversary of Whittaker’s historic summit of Mt. Everest.

Whittaker will discuss his life and climbing career, highlighted in his book, “A Life on the Edge.”

After his presentation, Peter Whittaker and Ed Viesturs will join him in a panel discussion.

Book signings and a chance to talk to the three guests, who recently helped launch Eddie Bauer’s First Ascent line of gear, will conclude the evening.

The event will begin at 7 p.m. in The Mountaineers Program Center at Magnuson Park in Se-attle. Admission: $10 for Moun-taineers members; $15 non-members (call 206-521-6001 or purchase a ticket at the door).

EddieBauertopresentJimWhittakerApril�0

Tom Hodgman, a former Mountaineer Climb Leader, has lived in Europe since 1997 and now offers guided trips for the

Tour of Mont Blanc. It’s a dream of a lifetime.

Visit www.FranceinaBoot.com

Tom Hodgman, a former Mountaineer Climb Leader, has lived in Europe since 1997 and now offers guided trips for the

Tour of Mont Blanc. It’s a dream of a lifetime.

Visit www.FranceinaBoot.com

Tom Hodgman, a former Mountaineers climb leader, has lived in Europe since 1997 and now offers guided trips for the Tour of Mont Blanc.

The Tour of Mont BlancIt’s the dream of a lifetime

www.FranceinaBoot.com

April 22 (see pg. 9 of Go Guide): Slide and lecture presentation at

Mountaineers Program Center