JULY & AUGUST 2021 1
We are hikers on remote trails. We are alpinists navigating rock and snow. We are pioneers on hostile summits. We span seven continents and a thousand landscapes but our intent is the same. For every trail, for every mountain, for every moment. We are Explorers. # WeAreRab
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W W W .RA B .EQ U IPMENT
MAZAMA BULLETIN
IN THIS ISSUE Mazama Membership, p. 5 Mazama Lodge, p. 6 Volunteer Opportunities, p, 9 What’s Happening Around the Mazamas, p. 10 Mazama Wild, p. 11 Timberline Trail Destruction, p. 12 Upcoming Courses, p. 15 The Blue Mountains Trail, p. 18 Mom, Mt. Hood, and my route to the Mazamas, p. 21 Going Solo, p. 24 Mazama Trail Trips, p. 27 Mazama Classics, p. 27 Mazama Staff Changes, p. 28 Mazama Bylaws Update, p. 29 An Unexpectedly Long Day on Mt. Ellinor, p. 30 Lyme Disease in the Pacific Northwest, p. 32 Things We Lost in the Fire, p. 36 Hike Leader Appreciation, p. 39 Book Reviews, p. 40 Successful Climbers, p. 42 Executive Board Minutes, p. 43
Volume 103 Number 4 July & August 2021
CONTACT US Mazama Mountaineering Center 527 SE 43rd Ave., Portland, Oregon, 97215 Phone: 503-227-2345 | help@mazamas.org
Hours: Currently CLOSED to public access Mazama Lodge 30500 West Leg Rd., Government Camp, OR, 97028
Phone: 503-272-9214 | Hours: CLOSED to public access. Publications Team Editors: Sarah Bradham, Bulletin Editor; Mathew Brock, Layout Editor (mazama.bulletin@mazamas.org) Members: Brian Goldman, Darrin Gunkel, Ali Gray, Ryan Reed, and Claire Tenscher (publications@mazamas.org)
MAZAMA STAFF SARAH BRADHAM, Acting Executive Director sarah@mazamas.org
KELSEY SHAW Member Services Administrator kelseyshaw@mazamas.org
MATHEW BROCK RICK CRAYCRAFT Library & Historical Collections Facilities Manager Manager facilities@mazamas.org mathew@mazamas.org LAURA BURGER Development Coordinator lauraburger@mazamas.org For additional contact information, including committees and board email addresses, go to mazamas.org/contactinformation.
MAZAMA (USPS 334-780): Cover: Benton Spirek on the summit of Black Crater in Central Oregon. Photo: David Rempel Above: New Member Kaylynn Hanset on the summit of Mount St. Helens, July 30, 2019.
Advertising: mazama.ads@mazamas.org. Subscription: $15 per year. Bulletin material must be emailed to mazama.bulletin@mazamas.org. The Mazama Bulletin is currently published bimonthly by the Mazamas—527 SE 43rd Ave., Portland, OR 97215. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to MAZAMAS, 527 SE 43rd Ave., Portland, OR 97215. The Executive Council meets at 4 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month. Meetings are open to members. The Mazamas is a 501(c)(3) Oregon nonprofit corporation organized on the summit of Mt. Hood in 1894. The Mazamas is an equal opportunity provider.
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Acting Executive Director’s Report
OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND
by Sarah Bradham, Acting Executive Director
A
s I sit typing this at my desk at the Mazama Mountaineering Center (MMC), I am struck by how much things have changed since June 2020. Last year at this time, I, like many others, was working from a makeshift office in my home. We were working simultaneously to develop online programming as we continued to cancel our regular programming due to rising COVID rates and ongoing restrictions. The Mazama Wild summer camp was operating under strict COVID protocols that prevented us from offering one of our signature activities of camp—rock climbing on our indoor rock walls. Our climbing and hiking offerings were extremely limited and all of our summer and fall classes were canceled. Collectively, we were working to put on a brave face of positivity, while also acknowledging that much of what we love as Mazamas wasn’t going to be possible for the foreseeable future. Fast forward to a year later and the reality and the outlook for the upcoming year has dramatically changed. Currently, the Holman Auditorium is full of excited Mazama Wild campers donning harnesses and helmets and tackling the rock wall while being belayed by Mazama Wild counselors and Mazama volunteers. There are shrieks of joy as the kids make their way to the top of the wall as their peers shout encouragement from the floor. Our spring/summer climb schedule is in full swing, with 123 climbs scheduled so far this year.Of the climbs that have taken place since mid-April, we’ve had 23 successful summits, 10 climbs that left the trailhead but didn’t summit, and 16 cancellations for various, non-COVID reasons. As compared to the entire year of 2020, when we had 17 successful climbs and 81 canceled. Our climb leaders are adding climbs to the schedule weekly, so make sure to check back often if you are on the hunt for a climbing opportunity. With the mask requirement for outdoor activities now a thing of the past, our hike leaders are out on the trails and sharing photos of happy (smiling!) hikers. Hike leaders are also working hard to get our beloved Rambles program back up and running, so keep an out in our weekly emailed newsletter for updates. And let’s not forget about our intrepid Outings leaders who are getting people deep into nature on backpacking trips in the Olympics, Mt. Rainier National Park, and the John Muir Wilderness. 4 MAZAMAS
In this magazine you will find a full slate of educational opportunities for the upcoming year, to meet all interests and ability levels. After a long hiatus and a course overhaul, Steep Snow & Ice instruction returns and we couldn’t be more excited! We know there are a lot of folks who are very interested in developing their steep alpine climbing skills and these are the instructors who can teach you how to do just that. Get full class information at mazamas.org/ssi. If you are keen on learning how to descend waterfalls and river drainages, then our Canyoneering course will likely be right up your (v)alley. The course has shifted to a late summer schedule to take advantage of the higher vaccination rates and lower COVID restrictions. Parents who are looking to adventure with their kids can do just that with Families Mountaineering 101. This course trains adult and youth climbers for entrylevel mountaineering activities and is the perfect way to get your entire family involved in alpine activities. There will be an online info session on July 8—tune-in and get all the details. After a year of pulling together new skill builders to keep the climbing community engaged, our Intermediate Climbing School (ICS) team is gearing up for their full course. You’ll build upon your basic climbing skills, develop your problemsolving skills, and meet lots of new climbing partners along the way. Your outdoor education cannot be complete without some first aid skills
in your quiver. As you’ll find later in this magazine in the article An Unexpectedly Long Day on Mt. Ellinor, all climbers and backcountry enthusiasts can benefit from wilderness medicine training. Our First Aid team has been hard at work this past year Wilderness First Aid (WFA), a nationally recognized certification, to the Mazamas, and you’ll find several class offerings this fall and winter. This is one of our most accessible classes, with eight hours of online instruction prior to a single day in-person session, where you will have the opportunity to practice your newly learned skills. This is the perfect intro class for every outdoor adventurer. In addition to WFA, the First Aid team is developing a single-day Mountain First Aid (MFA) skill builder to teach and practice skills that are unique to Mazama-type activities. They will pilot their first MFA skill builder this fall. In addition to all of our activities and education offerings, we also have a variety of ways in which you can engage with the Mazamas as a volunteer. We are currently looking for individuals to join teams in Risk Management, Mediation, Records Management, and Gear Management. If any of those opportunities pique your interest, head over to mazamas.org/volunteer and tell us what you are interested in! We hope that you are as excited as we are about the many opportunities currently available and those that are on the horizon. I know that I’m looking forward to seeing many of your smiling faces in the near future.
MAZAMA MEMBERSHIP APRIL MAY Membership Report Membership Report NEW MEMBERS: 22 Blue Bluestein—Mount St. Helens Eric Boardman—Mt. Hood Allen Carbert—Denali Lisa DeCarlo—Mount St. Helens Josh Finley—Whitman Crest Sharon Karstadt—South Sister Michael Karstadt—South Sister Elizabeth Kelley—Mount St. Helens Claire Lu—Mount St. Helens Steve Marks—South Sister Jessie McQuiston—Mt. Adams Stuart Morrice—Mt. Hood Naomi Nagler—Mount St. Helens Chris O’Brien—Grand Teton Diana Petrmichlova—Mt. Hood Michelle Poole—Broken Top Barry Purnell—Mt. Adams Derek Rains—Illiniza Sur (Ecuador) John Rau—Broken Top Annie Overgaard Savaria-Watson— Mt. Adams Kate Scott—Mount St. Helens Lynn Tran—Mt. Rainier REINSTATEMENTS: 19 DECEASED: 2 MEMBERSHIP ON FEBRUARY 30: 2,697 (2021); 3,085 (2020)
NEW MEMBERS: 26 Alex Aguilar—Mt. Whitney Jade Benhameda—South Sister Geoffrey Bergen—Mt. Whitney Brandon Bonnette—Mount St. Helens Brookes Boswell—Mount St. Helens Kyle Brown—South Sister Marissa Burke—Mount St. Helens Abraham Cissna—South Sister Phil Cordell—Mount St. Helens Beth Edwards—Mount St. Helens Lisa Hefel—Mount St. Helens Ariel Himmelstern—Villarrica (Chile) Sarah Hughey—Mount St. Helens Andrew Kepley—Mount St. Helens Lisa King—Mount St. Helens Nicholas Krohe—Mt. Whitney Rebecca Lazar—Mount St. Helens Peter Lev—Mt. Hood Mark Mayer—Borah Peak (Idaho) Andrew McClure—Mount St. Helens Alma Miller—Mount St. Helens Vanessa Sandoval—Mount St. Helens Brent Sorensen—South Sister Gabriel Thomas—Mount St. Helens Nicholas Ulrich—Mt. Shasta Susanna Weiss—South Sister REINSTATEMENTS: 15 DECEASED: 0 MEMBERSHIP ON MARCH 30: 2,738 (2021); 3,094 (2020)
Top: Sarah Hughey on the summit of Mount St. Helens, June 10, 2020. Middle Right: Sebastian Fulger on the summit of Mt. Hood, July 8, 2020. Middle Left: Marissa Burke on the summit of Mount St. Helens Bottom: Nicholas Ulrich on the summit of Mt. Shasta, May 1, 2021.
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MAZAMA LODGE
Volunteers at Mazama Lodge
by Julia Williams, Mazama Lodge Vice Chair, and Brook Harris, Mazama Lodge Chair.
M
y, oh my, have we rolled our sleeves up virtually and in-person to get ready to welcome you back! Over the past year, a whole host of volunteers has worked tirelessly to help reopen Mazama Lodge—and we would like to say a huge THANK YOU!
The Mazama Lodge lives in one of the most extreme environments on the planet. This year our home on the mountain resisted record snowfall, intense wildfires and dense smoke, and several significant wind events. All of that in addition to floods, extended power outages, and so much more. Regardless, a host of vigilant volunteers helped keep it safe, and maintained the building during our long closure. A huge debt of gratitude is owed to William Emerson, Joe Fox, Seeger Fisher, and Julia Williams, who marshalled the lodge through one of its most challenging years—and from one major weather emergency to the next. This winter, a call went out for volunteers to join a Lodge Task Force, specifically to work on standards and best practices 6 MAZAMAS
for re-opening the lodge in a way that would be both safe and accommodating to our visitors. They also came together in person to rearrange the lodge according to state safety protocols, which was no small task. Jessica Zahnow, Rebecca Demorest, Tom Miller, Brian Heh, Joe Fox, Bruce Foulke, Julia Williams, Shannon Wages, Harry Frost, Eric Einspruch, and Susan Koch are a big reason why we can all enter the Lodge feeling safe this summer. For their time, patience, and commitment to the lodge, we cannot possibly thank them enough. Our faithful Lodge Committee has also been an outstanding support as we journey toward reopening. The committee has met monthly to set the course of the Lodge, both short- and long-term. Bob Stayton was extremely generous in donating two cords of wood so we can enjoy our beloved fireplace, and Richard Sandefur has given so much of his time to adding new heaters, and fixing all of our electrical areas of opportunity, that it is odd when he is not around. Thanks to our committee, we are able to look forward to a bright future filled with familiar traditions and new adventures. Beyond these groups, we have also hosted several work days. During our basement reorganization day, Rex Breunsbach and Alice Brocoum cleaned and organized the tool room and scrubbed, rearranged, sorted, and mapped out our kitchen storage. Jessica and
Julia fully emptied, organized, and threw away half a room full of unneeded and unusable items. Richard Sandefur, in addition to always being next to whomever needed a hand, removed the old electric wires hanging above the approach trail. Many of these wires were tangled in downed trees up and down the trail. Our basement is now organized, clean, and ready for visitors again. This small and mighty team accomplished an overwhelming amount of work that day and our hearts belong to them forever for it. The next task at hand was fully gutting, sorting through, and cleaning the kitchen. Thankfully we had Crystal Shum, Eric Miller, Sohaib Haider, Jeremiah Biddle, Sheri Dover, and Lee Trautman who showed up like superheroes and worked for many, many hours to get the kitchen ready for Kiki, our new lodge manager, to settle in and feed us all. We would not have been able to open this soon without them, and we are so in awe of the time and elbow grease they put into washing every dish, utensil, appliance, and every square inch of the kitchen—truly amazing! Most recently we held our annual spring work day, during which we sanitized all beds, organized and stacked two cords of firewood, rebuilt wood racks, and cleaned up the downed and broken signs and snow fencing from all around the lodge. Crystal, Sheri Dover, Brian Arthur, Bob Stayton, Lee Trautman, Mark Hufnail, and Brendan Scanlan, put in a full day and accomplished every item on our list and more. All along, the Mazama staff has been our partner, with Kelsey Shaw, Claire Nelson, Laura Burger, Mathew Brock, and Brendan Scanlen providing support throughout the year to organize meetings, arrange vendor work, and so much more. An extra special thank you to Sarah Bradham our Acting Executive Director, who has been an amazing partner in every step of this journey from closure in March of 2020 to today. The last, and perhaps most important person to thank, is our new Lodge Manager, Kiki Sherard. Kiki has only been at the Lodge a few weeks, and has made an incredible impact through the nearly dawn to dusk work she has put in. From setting up the kitchen, feeding volunteers, and coordinating with all of our vendors, Kiki has taken the whole Mazama Lodge business on her shoulders. For that effort, we are truly grateful. I hope as you read this, you will consider joining the many volunteers who support the Mazama Lodge. You can join our Friends of the Lodge email list to keep up to date, as well as see upcoming and regular volunteer opportunities on the Mazama Lodge page on mazamas.org. In addition to regular work days, we’d love your help with the day-to-day of the Lodge, including hosting our guests, supporting in the kitchen, and any of the many projects that keep the Lodge running. We are so excited to say “the Mazama Lodge is open”— and we could not have done it without our volunteers, our committees and task forces, the Mazama staff, and of course Kiki, who every day continue to give their time, energy, and passion, to help us open our doors. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Visit mazamas.org/mazamalodge, to make your reservation today. All of us look forward to welcoming you and all of our membership and guests up to the Lodge this summer!
KIKI SHERARD, MAZAMA LODGE MANAGER Kiki Sherard has a diverse background in Culinary Arts, Product Development, and Natural Foods. Originating from the Midwest, Kiki has lived in Oregon off and on for 17-years. She’s an avid volunteer and has a serious obsession with making pies. Kiki comes to the Mazamas with a wealth of experience that will be put to great use at our mountain lodge. She was a founder of Emergency Communities and organized kitchen volunteers to feed 1,500–2,000 people three meals a day, including procuring food, managing the kitchen budget, meal planning, and working with the local communities to host cultural celebrations. Kiki was the Lodge Manager and Event Chef at Abram’s Creek Lodge and Cabins, where she managed the reservations, maintained the lodge space, and organized/planned/prepared the large group meals. Kiki is knowledgeable and adept about dietary restrictions and meal preparation around those restrictions. Some of Kiki’s favorite pastimes are spinning wool, weaving, knitting, fishing, and crabbing. She also can be found rambling through the woods foraging for wild foods and medicines. In the future she plans to steward farmland with a flock of sheep and other fiber animals. As the new Mazama Manager, I just wanted to send a full heartfelt thank you to all of the volunteers that showed up for the kitchen cleaning Saturday, June 5, and the Lodge Workday on June 12. It was my first exposure to the Mazama community, and I’m so thankful to have met each and every person that showed up. It’s amazing what a collective of dedicated people can accomplish. Thank you all so much for coming to help not only me, but the greater Mazama community by giving some love to the lodge. I appreciate you all greatly and look forward to seeing you again! All the best, Kiki JULY & AUGUST 2021 7
HISTORICAL COLLECTION PRINTS NOW ON SALE! Are you looking for new artwork for your walls? Looking for a unique gift for a climbing friend or loved one? Do you want to jump start your holiday shopping? The Mazama Library and Historical Collection recently launched an online storefront where you can buy reprints of images from our collection. Prints are available in three sizes, are printed on archival paper, and proceeds help support the Mazama Library. Order today at tinyurl.com/LHCimages
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VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES
mazamas.org/volunteer
BASIC CLIMBING EDUCATION PROGRAM (BCEP) 2022 Looking to give back to the Mazamas? Are you interested in volunteering for the Mazama’s largest education program? The BCEP 2022 Committee might be the place for you. We are looking for a few volunteers to assist with the planning of BCEP 2022. If interested please fill out the BCEP 2022 Volunteer Survey (tinyurl.com/BCEP2022) or email bcep@mazamas.org for more information.
NOMINATING COMMITTEE The nominating committee is looking for candidates! Signing up is easy. Just reach out to nominating@mazamas.org and state your willingness to run this fall. Who are we? We’re the folks who recruit and vet the candidates for the Executive Council (EC) each year. We spend our time understanding the current challenges facing the Mazamas today relative to the existing Board members and their skills and areas of expertise. We work with the EC to determine where there may be gaps in expertise and then study the membership to develop an outreach plan leading to a slate of Executive Council candidates each year. Three reasons why you want to join the Nominating Committee: 1. This is a low-commitment volunteer opportunity: a onehour meeting each month with some additional time spent on outreach to potential candidates during the spring and summer. 2. It’s a great way to learn about the Mazamas organization and operations. 3. We’re a passionate group of Mazama members, from newbies to long-term, who grapple with interesting issues facing the organization. If you believe in our mission and want to help steer the direction of the Mazamas please consider running! Send an email to the Nominating Committee at nominating@mazamas. org and let us know you’re willing to run.
EDUCATION COMMITTEE The Education Committee is looking for a new chair. The Education Committee’s purpose is to provide a mechanism for the educational committees within the Mazamas to deliberate and decide on issues of mutual concern. These issues include, but are not limited to the following: class scheduling, class curriculum (both for consistency’s sake and to form a progressive educational path), educational best practices, and carrying out Executive Council’s strategic objectives as they pertain to Mazamas education and training. The committee is the composed of representatives from each of the Mazamas Education Committees, including Advanced Rock, Backcountry Ski Touring, Basic Climbing Education Program, Canyoneering, Climbing, Families, Intermediate Climbing School, First Aid, Nordic, Trail Trips, and Steep Snow & Ice. This role is responsible for setting the monthly agenda, facilitating the monthly meetings, and making sure that committee functions are carried out by Committee members. The person filling this role should have some knowledge of the Mazamas and be able to maintain an organization-wide perspective when doing committee work. Currently, this role requires approximately six hours per month. Interested parties should send a note to education@ mazamas.org.
NORDIC COMMITTEE We need YOU ... and your Nordic skiing skills and enthusiasm! Nordic Committee is recruiting for Instructors and Assistant Instructors for the 2022 ski season. This year, we plan to offer classes at Beginner, Novice, and Intermediate levels along with Backcountry Nordic and a new Skate Skiing class. Check out our web page at mazamas.org/nordic for more information about the Nordic program, including brief descriptions of each class level. If you enjoy cross-country skiing and want to use your skills and enthusiasm to help students learn to ski or improve their skills, please send a note to Nordic@mazamas.org with a description of your experience and levels you would be interested in teaching. We would love to increase our capacity to meet the needs of folks wanting to learn cross country skiing!
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WHAT’S HAPPENING AROUND THE MAZAMAS THANK YOU MAZAMA VOLUNTEERS! If you have ever participated with the Mazamas, you know that our volunteers are extraordinary. From developing curriculum and teaching our education programs to planning and leading adventures across the world (and so, so much more in between), our volunteers truly embody our mission to inspire everyone to love and protect the mountains. Whether they are leading us along trails in the lush forests of the Willamette National Forest, through the Frozen-esque ice structures of the Pearly Gates, or across the jaw-dropping paths in the Spanish Pyrenees, Mazama hike, climb, and outing leaders help our community to explore the world around us. We are especially thankful to our leaders this year for doing their part to keep us connected to the outdoors during a time when many of us have spent more time indoors than ever before. This year, our education volunteers blew us away! Faced with a life-changing pandemic, our incredible leaders innovated, made hard but good decisions, and adapted to new teaching platforms in order to continue providing courses and seminars for the mountain community.
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CLIMBING COMMITTEE: The committee completed an incident debrief using a new process, recruited new Leader Development candidates, and promoted several assistants to leadership status.
OUTINGS COMMITTEE: The committee is working to improve awareness of their offerings and streamline their internal processes.
NORDIC: The committee welcomed Freda Sherburne as the new committee chair. She is getting up to speed on committee processes and evaluating options for next season.
FIRST AID: Seven committee members completed step one of a three step process for Stop the Bleed instructor qualification. The committee will pilot a one day Mountaineering First Aid course at the MMC in November.
CLASSICS: The committee recently welcomed two new members and members are looking forward to the return of the annual July 3rd picnic at Dick and Jane Millers.
BCEP SUBCOMMITTEE: The committee is exploring an asynchronous class for 2022 as a way to improve access to the course. Options might include virtual lectures and allowing leaders and students a choice of start dates.
PUBLICATION COMMITTEE: Committee members worked with staff to get the delivery of the Bulletin back on schedule after a year of challenges.
TRAIL TRIPS: Committee members developed application strategies for, and information to, leaders on the new Central Cascades Permits. The annual RTM event is under review in light of trail damage and COVID-19 uncertainity.
CANYONEERING COMMITTEE: The committee recently completed two training sessions for assistant leaders.
RESEARCH COMMITTEE: The committee successfully held two online seminars with good attendance.
MAZAMA WILD
S
chool is out, but exploring nature and science with the Mazamas is in! Youth ages 4–10 are attending our day camps, excited to learn and play in ways both unique to our organization's love of the outdoors and desperately needed after one and a half years of being cooped up due to a pandemic. From ecology to engineering to mountain exploration, campers are eagerly taking in what we're all about and fostering long-term relationships with the Mazamas and the outdoors.
Are you interested in volunteering? After a year of absence with youth programs, our indoor climbing walls are back in use! Whether you are an experienced camp belayer or new to it, Mazama Wild has a place for those looking to rope belay our campers. Sessions are available on Wednesdays and Fridays for most of the summer in the morning or afternoon for a couple hours at a time. Volunteering event sign-ups can be found on our website's event calendar by searching "Mazama Wild.”
CORRECTION
It has come to our attention that we inadvertently left out some additional material from Rick Craycraft’s article on the history of trail tending by the Mazamas in our May/June issue. Rick intended to let readers know that the Mazama Library contains a DVD on the history of the Mazama Trail compiled by Ray Sheldon. In addition, Friends of the Columbia River Gorge have posted “Trails That Lure” a film about recreation in the Columbia Gorge, commissioned by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It was filmed by George R. Goergens in 1918, and released in 1920. Many of the sights remain very familiar, including Multnomah Falls, Eagle Creek, and what is now called the Historic Columbia River Highway. It can be viewed at tinyurl.com/trailsthatlure. JULY & AUGUST 2021 11
TIMBERLINE TRAIL DEVASTATION ABOVE MUDDY FORK
by James Wilson
L
ast September, over Labor Day weekend, the Pacific Northwest experienced an historic easterly windstorm that battered Oregon, driving devastating wildfires to surge through forests and communities across the state. At Timberline Lodge on Mt. Hood, a peak wind gust of 106 miles per hour was observed. All throughout the forests around the mountain the sustained winds felled trees, breaking them apart or tearing them loose from the earth, to scatter across the trails and roads throughout Mt. Hood National Forest. The Timberline National Historic Trail #600 encircles Mt. Hood, and in 42 miles takes hikers on a spectacular route through alpine meadows of lupine and paintbrush, stands of old growth forest, across numerous creeks rushing down from glaciers, past waterfalls, and by historic stone structures. One of the areas most impacted by last fall’s storm was the section of the Timberline Trail between the crossing of the Muddy Fork and Yocum Ridge. This area is a nexus of locations popular with day hikers: Ramona Falls, the views along Bald Mountain, and the trail towards McNeil Point. The 1.5 mile section formerly went through large, shaded oldgrowth forest, gently hugging the contours of the slope. In October of 2020 I returned to the trail after the storms to survey the damage. I had been through this area multiple times Above: panorama of Muddy Fork damage. Photo: James Wilson
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earlier in the summer on day long loops of the Timberline Trail, and this formerly pleasant section that would take 20–30 minutes took me over three hours to navigate. The windstorm shredded the old growth forest, snapping trees in half, ripping many out by the roots, scattering them across the forest like toothpicks. Long sections of the trail here are completely covered in stacks of trees, hundreds of feet of trail have been torn away by root wads spilling down the hillside. There is an incredible number of trees greater than 30 inches in diameter blocking the way. The vast extent of the damage is viewable on satellite imagery of the area taken one year apart. Already this spring, there have been two search and rescue operations extracting hikers from the area. The extent of the trail
damage is so unimaginable and out of the normal experience of hiking in a popular area that it is easy for uninformed hikers to continue to push onward, expecting the devastation to relent, pushing themselves to exhaustion or injury. The positive news is that the closure of the trail will not impact the opportunity to encircle the mountain. A detour shortens the length of a loop by nearly 1.5 miles. If going clockwise, after crossing the Sandy River, hikers have the option of following the Pacific Crest Trail all the way to the Top Spur-Timberline-PCT junction west of Bald Mountain, or to head northeast to Ramona Falls and take the Ramona Falls Trail after the bridge northwest to rejoin the PCT north towards Bald Mountain. It should be noted that there is shorter section of Timberline Trail heavily impacted by the storm on the north side of Bald Mountain, and hikers from either direction should utilize the signed cut-off trail crossing the narrow ridge east of the mountain, and only traverse the south side of Bald Mountain (where the iconic views are, anyway). Hikers going counterclockwise should, from the Top SpurTimberline-PCT junction, take the PCT south and after the lower
Muddy Fork crossing, stay on it until it rejoins the Timberline, or take the Ramona Falls Trail until it meets the Timberline going south. More of Jim Wilson’s explorations, cartography, and photography can be found at elevationchanges.com
JULY & AUGUST 2021 13
SHARE YOUR VACCINATION STORY The View from the Other Side of the Needle by Ardel Frick Weaving her way through the maze of tables, the young woman headed toward my Station 47 sign, her masked face radiating apprehension. She sat down and turned her gaze slowly to take in the cavernous enormity and assembly-line precision of the Mass Vaccination Clinic at the Oregon Convention Center. Locking her eyes on mine, she said, “I will never forget this moment.” In my day job, I am a nurse analyst defending high-dollar insurance denials. Desperately ill Covid-19 patients are transported to Portland to receive advanced technologies that replace deteriorating heart, lung, and kidney functions. Family members might be hospitalized elsewhere; perhaps close relatives have already died. Weeks in the Intensive Care Unit on life support could cost several million dollars. Some do not survive. Fueled by these tragic stories, trading my evenings and days off to give vaccinations was an easy choice. Since January, I have worked 44 vaccination clinics, giving thousands of injections. Patients have sobbed, fainted, prayed, joked, danced, hyperventilated, overcome fears, been stoic, been emotional, bared fascinating tattoos, and conveyed effusive gratitude. I am driven by the hope that each shot will bring us closer to future adventures, a renewed sense of community, and a safer world. If there is one more sleeve to roll up, I’ll push through the exhaustion beause I, too, will never forget this moment.
EXECUTIVE COUNCIL CANDIDATES NEEDED If you have an interest in giving back to an organization that offers so much to its members, students, and partners—if you believe in supporting the many volunteers that give countless hours of their time year after year, please consider joining the pool of Executive Council candidates. The Executive Council is our nine-member board of directors dedicated to guiding the organization and maintaining its legacy of preserving and protecting our wilderness. Every fall we elect three new members to the Council to serve three-year terms. If you believe in our mission and want to help steer the Mazamas’ direction and you’ve been a member for at least three years, please consider running! Send an email to the Nominating Committee at nominating@mazamas.org, and we’ll get you all the information you need and answer any questions.
JOIN THE MAZAMAS ARE YOU READY TO BECOME A MAZAMA MEMBER? IF YOU HAVE SUMMITTED A GLACIATED PEAK AT ANY TIME IN YOUR LIFE, YOU ARE READY! GO TO MAZAMAS. ORG/JOIN AND SIGN UP.
EDUCATION ADVOCACY COMMUNITY BUILDING What does it mean to join the Mazamas? As a member, you are part of one of the most respected mountaineering and outdoor organizations in the country. Our members are passionate outdoor individuals who are dedicated to our mission of inspiring everyone to love and protect the mountains. The Mazamas and its members work towards our mission through education, advocacy, and community building.
AS A MEMBER YOU WILL: • Meet new friends who share your love of the outdoors. • Contribute towards scholarships that get underserved populations outdoors. • Enjoy discounted rates on Mazama activities and discounts at local outdoor retailers and gyms. • Receive our bi-monthly Mazama Bulletin magazine. • Join the American Alpine Club (AAC) at a reduced rate (once you join you will receive a code to use on the AAC website). • Gain full access to the world-class 5,000-volume Mazama Mountaineering Library. • Receive free rescue insurance anywhere in the world below 6,000 meters and up to $10,000 ($5,000 with Mazama membership; $10,000 with joint AAC membership). • Volunteer! You can join our team and lead trips, classes, and other activities.
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UPCOMING 2021–2022 COURSES
T
raining people to recreate in the mountains while managing risk is central to the mission of the Mazamas. Our educational programs began with the Basic Climbing Education Program more than 75-years ago. Since then we have added intermediate and advanced climbing classes, skiing and first aid courses, and most recently canyoneering. If you have been looking at the mountains and dreaming of achieving a mountain summit or scaling a rock walk, look no further! You can find all of our educational programs on our website at mazamas.org/calendar/education/
INTRO TO HIGH ANGLE RESCUE
CANYONEERING 2021
MULTI-PITCH EFFICIENCY SKILL BUILDER
■ Class dates: July 14–18 ■ Application Opens: June 23 ■ Application Closes: July 7 ■ Prerequisites: See website for details.
■ Class dates: Aug. 12–Sept. 9 ■ Application Opens: July 6 ■ Application Closes: July 20 ■ Prerequisites: See website for details.
■ Class dates: Aug 17–22 ■ Application Opens: July 21 ■ Application Closes: Aug. 4 ■ Prerequisites: Lead belay certification, ability to rappel.
In this course, you will learn the basics of high angle rescue. We will start with an online lecture in which we will cover all of the main subjects, followed by a practice session at the MMC. Topics covered include going handsfree, going to "baseline," defeating the plaquette, passing a knot on rappel, and basic mechanical advantage systems. Course prerequisites: lead climbing & lead belay certified at a local gym, skilled in basic knots & hitches (i.e. eight knot, clove, munter, prussik), and recent experience leading single and multi-pitch climbs preferred.
Canyoneering (or “canyoning”) is the sport of exploring canyons using a variety of techniques such as scrambling, climbing, rappelling, wading, and swimming. The term usually refers to the descent of technical canyons requiring ropes, harnesses, and other specialized gear. Like mountain peaks, canyons vary widely in level of difficulty–ranging from the easy hike-through variety to the extremely technical. Dry canyons are generally easier in terms of rigging and preparation compared to those which contain flowing water. The more water that is present, the more difficult the canyon. Canyoneering is practiced all over the world, although most well known in Europe and the United States. It is a sport that is rapidly growing in popularity. In North America, most people associate canyoneering with the famous slot canyons of the Colorado Plateau, although it is also being practiced in the Rocky Mountains, the Sierras, Arizona, British Columbia, Mexico, Hawaii, and here in the Cascades. With one of the greatest concentrations of waterfalls in the world, canyoneering is a natural fit for the Pacific Northwest. Learn more: mazamas.org/canyoneering
The course will introduce techniques and sequences involved in multipitch climbing. Topics will include setting up a belay at an anchor, belay procedures, rope management, lead transitions, lowering a climber, and planning the descent. The course will consist of two evening lectures and a single-day practice session in the Holman Auditorium.
GEAR & ANCHOR BUILDING MINI COURSE ■ Class dates: Aug. 4–8 ■ Application Opens: July 7 ■ Application Closes: July 21 ■ Prerequisites: see website for details. In this course you will learn how to place gear, objectively analyze gear placements, equalize anchor points using cordelettes, slings and ropes, where to locate your master point, and how to safely set up an anchor using SERENE and ERNEST methodologies. This course will help start your introduction into trad climbing.
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UPCOMING 2021–2022 COURSES CONT. Photo Credits, from left to right: David Rempel, Lindsey Addison, David Rempel
STEEP SNOW & ICE SKILL BUILDER
INTERMEDIATE CLIMBING FAMILIES SCHOOL (ICS) MOUNTAINEERING 101
■ Class dates: Aug 27–Oct 31, 2021 ■ Application Open: July 15, 2021 ■ Application Closes: Aug 1, 2021 ■ Prerequisites: See website for details
■ Class dates: Aug 31, 2021–May 31, 2022 ■ Application Open: July 12, 2021 ■ Application Closes: Aug. 2, 2021 ■ Prerequisites: Minimum requirement is two rock and two snow climbs. See website for details.
■ Class dates: Sept 8, 2021–May 15, 2022 ■ Application Open: July 14, 2021 ■ Application Closes: Aug. 4, 2021 ■ Prerequisites: 3rd grade or older (Younger students considered on a case by case basis).
The Steep Snow and Ice skill builder will focus on mentoring climbers in developing comfort and proficiency in steep alpine terrain. This will include placement of snow and ice protection and anchors; and moving efficiently on glaciers, steep snow, and alpine ice. Throughout the skill builder we will practice continuous risk assessment, recognition of hazards, and situational awareness. This skill builder will be open to any graduate of ICS or someone with equivalent experience ( for example prior summits of glaciated peaks; ability to belay and rappel; knowledge of common climbing knots; and basic understanding of glacier travel, rope management and crevasse rescue). Learn more: mazamas.org/ssi
Intermediate Climbing School (ICS) is an intensive, challenging, fun, and rewarding experience. At no other point in your climbing career are you likely to see your climbing skills advance more dramatically within a single, relatively short span of time. ICS picks up where BCEP left off and teaches the skills necessary to be a strong assistant on advanced Mazama climbs, organize private climbs of your own, and for those who choose, take the next step into Climb Leader Development. The course takes place over a period of 9 months and includes lectures, field sessions, and social activities. Learn more: mazamas.org/ICS
Families Mountaineering 101 (FM101) trains adult and youth climbers for entry-level mountaineering activities, including rock and snow climbing skills. This class is an opportunity to get your entire family involved with alpine activities and mountaineering objectives. FM101 is designed to support parents and their children in building a solid foundation of mountaineering skills. Participants of the class will learn the skills required to be a competent member of Mazama “A” or “B” level climbs. FM101 utilizes oneroom schoolhouse style to accommodate kids and adults of all ages. The class will break out into smaller practice and field session groups based upon a number of considerations, including age. Mazama Mountaineering Center (MMC) sessions are hands-on and interactive. There is a significant amount of field session time, including several camping trips, and a night at Mazama lodge. Learn more: mazamas.org/fm101.
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Photo Credits, from left to right: Duncan Hart, Toby Contreras, Duncan Hart, Unknown, Courtney Rust
NORDIC SKI SCHOOL
ADVANCED ROCK (AR)
BASIC CLIMBING EDUCATION PROGRAM
■ Class dates: Jan 12–Feb 17, 2022 ■ Application Open: Nov. 23, 2021 ■ Application Closes: Dec. 1, 2021 ■ Prerequisites: Depends on course level chosen.
■ Class dates: Feb. 22–May 19, 2022 ■ Application Open: Nov. 30 ■ Application Closes: Dec. 14 ■ Prerequisites: Leading outside within the last year, lead card at a local gym, and more. See Website
■ Class dates: Mar. 8–May 27, 2022 ■ Application Open: Feb. 1, 2022 ■ Application Closes: Feb. 15, 2022 ■ Prerequisites: None.
The Mazama Nordic Ski School strives to meet you at your current skill level and take you to the next level. Whether you are an alpine skier who wants a new challenge, a ski mountaineer who wants to improve your skill set, or a nordic skier who is ready for the next level—this class is for you! We remove impediments to progress by encouraging you to ski on high performance equipment—you should not have to fight with your skis in order to turn. Starting with groomed runs served by high speed lifts we aim to maximize your skiing time while progressing to more difficult terrain as your skills and interests grow. The Mazama Nordic Ski School offers three types of crosscountry skiing classes: Classic, Telemark, and Backcountry. Backcountry is taught as a separate program. The Nordic Ski School program consists of a mandatory evening Meet Your Instructor Orientation, followed by three class sessions on consecutive weekends, either Saturday or Sunday, whichever day you registered for. Learn more: mazamas.org/nordic
The Mazama Advanced Rock (AR) Course provides high quality instruction and training to enable graduates to be proficient at leading traditional climbs on vertical rock. We teach the technical and mental skills that will prepare you for a wide range of climbing, from single-pitch cragging to multi-pitch and alpine rock routes. The AR program is comprised of a series of lectures given by knowledgeable speakers with hands-on demos or exercises where appropriate. The lectures are supported by weekend field sessions, coordinated and taught by skilled, experienced climbers. The Advanced Rock program offers you the opportunity to meet new and experienced rock climbers, as you learn about climbing areas and destinations. Learn more: mazamas.org/ar
Have you wanted to climb our nearby mountains but don’t know how to get started? Hood, St. Helens, Adams? Maybe others? The Mazama Basic Climbing Education Program (BCEP) is for you! BCEP teaches the skills needed to climb snow covered peaks and outdoor rock— and introduces you to other people who like to climb! The eight-week class includes weekly lectures and team breakout sessions, field sessions, and conditioning hikes. The field sessions provide practical exposure to basic rock climbing and snow travel. Field sessions may include overnight camping, a stay at the Mazama Lodge, or an “alpine” (nighttime) start. You will learn and practice the basic technical skills needed to climb a glaciated peak as a climb team member. This is our most popular class each year so mark your calendars for Info Night and the registration open date so you don’t miss out! Learn more: mazamas.org/bcep
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THE BLUE MOUNTAINS TRAIL BECKONS by Jared Kennedy
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e live in a time in the Pacific Northwest when the trails we once hiked for solitude are often busy midweek. More and more, finding a place to park, or getting a backcountry camping permit in a national forest, causes the anxiety that we are trying to escape by getting outside. Many of us have come to prize landscapes and trails that are “off the beaten path,” but finding that means going a little farther than it used to. Nestled away in the northeast corner of Oregon, the Blue Mountains offer an opportunity to find yourself for days on a trail with no one else around. Here you find solitude in intact forests, snowcapped mountains, undammed rivers, deep canyons, and alpine lakes where you’re more likely to encounter wildlife than another person. The Blue Mountains are home to diverse wildlife populations; recent hiking reports from parts of the Blue Mountains Trail have included sightings of wolves, cougars, bears, pine martens, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, badgers, eagles, owls, and songbirds galore. The Blue Mountains Trail is more than a long distance trail. It’s an opportunity to solve some of the pressing challenges for the recreation infrastructure that needs the investment that comes with more visitation. It opens the door to the associated benefits that well maintained
trails and broader exposure bring to recreation-minded rural communities. It brings more people into the conversation on the role intact landscapes and thriving ecosystems can provide to the region’s future. The trail runs 530 miles from end to end and winds through all seven wilderness areas of Northeast Oregon. The northern terminus is Wallowa Lake State Park, where the trail heads due south and quickly climbs into the Eagle Cap Wilderness, avoiding the overcrowded Lakes Basin and opting for Hawkins Pass and the headwaters of the Imnaha River. It passes the foot of Cusick Mountain and its ancient limber pine, thought to be the oldest tree in Oregon. It turns back north to follow the Western Rim Trail high above Hells Canyon, before descending to the Snake River at Dug Bar, the site where the nontreaty bands of the Nez Perce crossed into
Above: Eagle Cap Wilderness as seen from the Blue Mountains Trail. Photo: Renee Patrick
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Idaho on their flight from the U.S. Army when they were forcibly removed from their homeland. It climbs the Nee-Me-Poo Trail before touching the Zumwalt Prairie and crosses Joseph Canyon, the birthplace of Chief Joseph. From Troy, a town known best to Grande Ronde River runners, it follows the Wenaha River, the North and South Forks of the Umatilla River, the community of Tollgate, on to Mt. Emily, and then to La Grande, the trail’s midpoint and the headquarters of Greater Hells Canyon Council, the organization that is leading the effort to develop the Blue Mountains Trail. From La Grande, the trail’s southern half continues to Anthony Lakes and then along the impressive geology on the Elkhorn Crest Trail to reach Sumpter, a historic Gold Rush town. The trail returns to the Greenhorn Mountains before descending into the wilderness along
the North Fork John Day River, climbing back over Vinegar Hill, and continuing past Austin Junction to Monument Rock Wilderness. The trail’s final 45 miles run along the Strawberry Mountains crest before ending in John Day. While some of the mountains and rivers may sound familiar, for most Oregonians these are unknown landscapes. The Blue Mountains ecoregion is mountainous, with diverse dry, wet, and alpine forests. Many who venture from elsewhere are surprised just how much water there is in a part of the state known for its aridity. The Blues connect the Rockies, the Cascades, Great Basin and Columbia Plateau and serve as a critical migration corridor for wildlife moving between and across these ecoregions. The mountain ranges through which the trail courses have more peaks above 9,000 feet than any other part of the state, including the Cascades.
The Blue Mountains Trail goes along the highest points of Wallowa, Elkhorn, Greenhorn, and Strawberry Mountains where the snow melts in July and returns by October. It also descends Groundtruthing while hiking the Blue Mountains Trail. Photo:Renee Patrick to the base of Hells Canyon where summer temperatures Hughes and joined by Dick Hentze, Greg consistently stay above 100 degrees. It is a Dyson, Mike Higgins and countless others. trail best hiked from late August to early There are many benefits of GHCC leading October, and doing the whole route will trail development efforts. GHCC was take 30-45 days depending on your daily founded 54-years ago to stop the damming mileage. As with most long distance trails, of the Snake River through Hells Canyon it is set up to hike in shorter sections, to and was instrumental in the creation of day hike, or to do a shorter backpacking the Hells Canyon National Recreation trip from one of the many nearby Area. As a conservation organization, communities, campgrounds, or trailheads. GHCC is well suited to resolve any The development of the Blue Mountains potential environmental impacts caused Trail by Greater Hells Canyon Council by increased recreation with an ecocentric (GHCC) is the culmination of over 40-years approach. We believe that time spent of vision and groundwork led by Loren immersed in these landscapes will make
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Strawberry Mountain as seen from the Blue Mountains Trail. Photo: Renee Patrick
Blue, continued from previous page. you fall in love with the area and join the efforts of GHCC and other conservation organizations to see these areas protected. The Blue Mountains, such a critical wildlife connectivity corridor, are also home to forests and rivers that will play an increasingly important role as a climate refugia. Yet all too often, the voices that seek to protect the region’s intact landscapes, large trees, diverse wildlife, and functioning ecosystems are brushed aside. The overly simplistic “urban/rural divide” narrative gives short shrift to the large percentage of Oregon’s eastsiders who also want to see more of the state’s public lands protected from taxpayer subsidized overgrazing and intensive logging practices. This past summer, we were lucky to get extraordinary assistance from Renee Patrick (Trail Coordinator for the Oregon Desert Trail), Whitney La Ruffa, Naomi Hudetz, and Mike Unger. All four completed the whole route. With their help, we worked together to modify the route and eliminate many of the obstacles that they encountered. Blogs, podcasts, and trip reports describing their trail experiences are linked to on the Blue Mountains Trail website. Additional input 20 MAZAMAS
from others, including the recreation staff at the Malheur National Forest, have enabled us to create a route that is ready this year for experienced backcountry hikers, with significant segments ready for less experienced hikers. Maps and in-depth town guides are available on the Blue Mountains Trail website. With support from Travel Oregon, we’ve been able to develop these guides to help thru hikers plan the logistics for shipping resupply boxes and picking up food and other gear in the towns that offer them. But hikers need to also prepare for a long gap in resupply between Joseph and Troy. Finding a friend to meet you at Hells Canyon or Buckhorn Overlooks is the best option at present, as we work to create a long term resupply solution for this section of trail. Hikers are encouraged to take a modified zero day on a short section of trail to help control brush along their route to improve the trail experience for others; we’ll provide the tools, again thanks to generous support from Travel Oregon. Hikers need to be aware that the Blue Mountains Trail is a long-term project still in its infancy. We invite you to visit us in Northeast Oregon—hike some or all of the Blue
Monument Rock. Photo: Renee Patrick
Mountains Trail, use our resources to plan your own journey into the Blues, and visit the towns and stay awhile. The Blue Mountains beckon. For more information, including maps, town guides and more resources, visit the Blue Mountains Trail webpage at hellscanyon.org/blue-mountains-trail. Sign up for the trail newsletter to stay up to date on the latest from the trail. And learn more about the work we do to connect, protect, and restore the Greater Hells Canyon Region while you’re there. We’d also like to thank the Mazamas for a generous grant and support for our work on the Blue Mountains Trail, including the opportunity to share this article with you.
Mom, Mt. Hood, and My Route to the Mazamas by Peter Boag
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s I cleared the crater-rim of Oregon’s South Sister at 10 a.m. on July 13, 2018, varied emotions swept over me. First, there was the excitement of being steps away from the summit of a glaciated peak that finally qualified me to join the Mazamas. I had grown up in Oregon, had early fallen in love with the Cascade Mountains, had backpacked and hiked and skied in the region’s outdoors even as a child, and had long been familiar with the Mazamas. Over those years, I often considered doing what I needed to do in order to join. But I had never previously been particularly interested in climbing. My motivations for that had only recently changed. They were connected to the second reason why summitting the South Sister was emotional for me. It was exactly 70-years and two days since my mother, Olga Horand, had successfully ascended Mt. Hood as a fifteen-year-old. That feat had always been one of the major adventure stories in my family. Growing up, we kids would often ask about it. Mother always included in her telling two details apparently most memorable to her. The most vivid concerned being roped up with others during the last steep pitch to the summit. The fellow in line behind her was quite anxious, fearing he would fall and be swept away. Apparently, he let everyone know. Mother always spoke of that with a mixture of comedy and annoyance. I thought about Mom quite a bit during my trek up the South Sister—a climb not nearly so technical as Mt. Hood, but a mountain whose summit reaches toward the heavens to an elevation that approaches the latter’s height. I had lost my mother the previous October; she had suffered Alzheimer’s in her later Above: Olga Horand Mt. Hood, 1948. Photo: unknown
years. I was thankful that even toward the end she still recognized me, though on occasion she did mix me up with my father. He had passed away four years earlier. During my climb, I felt I was finally doing something similar in scale to what she had done—the ascent to higher altitudes was bringing me closer to her. I would like to believe that it was doing so in more than just my thoughts. Both my parents enjoyed the outdoors. Mom was more of a mountain person while my father loved the Coast and salmon fishing. I spent a lot of time as a child in both places, but I took more to Mom’s mountains. Both my parents facilitated my interest in backpacking when I was in grade school in the early 1970s. They enrolled me in a backpacking course through the Portland Public Park system to learn all about it. They both, though my mom more, then accompanied me on varied backpacking trips, including the Timberline Trail around Mt. Hood. My mom’s love of the mountains came by way of downhill skiing, which she began doing as a girl. Her father bought her skis from the army surplus store in Portland just as World War II was concluding. Many a weekend during the ski season, Mom,
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Mom, continued from previous page. sometimes with a friend, would make her way across town by streetcar from her parents’ home on northeast Dekum Street to St. Mary’s Academy in downtown. There she would climb aboard the old rattle-trap of a bus that the school had arranged for transporting youngsters up to Mt. Hood during the wintertime. She sometimes even spent the night at the dormitory in Government Camp, and thus skied all weekend long.
Mt. Hood Register July 11, 1948. Photo: Peter Boag
On March 28, 1949, Mom even participated in the Oregon Journal’s Safe Ski Slalom competition held at Government Camp. “All the other girls missed the curve at the bottom of the run,” my mom once explained to me for my family history collection, “but I was the first one to make it. The officials decided to change the course [after that] because the kids were having such a difficult time. They asked me if I wanted to go again, but I said ‘no.’ I was just glad to make it and I was so nervous.” Newspaper coverage of the event verifies that “more than half of the field tumbled along the route.” Mom placed sixth in the junior women’s division—at least according to the newspaper, while her diary states that she was fifth. She wore bib number 30 that day. It is a memento of her past that I still hold onto. That she kept it all those years suggests how important skiing was to her. After Mom and Dad married in 1950, she let go of skiing. Perhaps it was too expensive for a young couple just starting out. Perhaps it was because it was never really my dad’s thing. Perhaps it was because of the time Mom needed to devote to five children who began arriving in 1952 and continued coming until 1966. But after the two eldest children left home, Mom could wait no longer. In 1973, she outfitted us three younger kids with ski 22 MAZAMAS
equipment, enrolled us in lessons at Timberline Lodge, and then took off for the solitude of the slopes. She kept skiing for the next quarter-century or more, until arthritis advancing in her hip simply made it too difficult. It became one of those important parts of her life that, like all of us who experience both the privilege and pain of aging, have to let go of at one time or another. Of all the children, I was the only one who continued skiing Olga Horand skiing. Photo: unknown for some years. While I was in graduate school in Eugene, my parents even gifted me my first set of cross-country skis. All these things and connections to my mother led me into the mountains. But more than anything, it was my mother’s ascent of Mt. Hood that led me up the South Sister and then into the Mazamas. Her opportunity to climb Oregon’s highest peak was due to my grandfather’s work. He was a baker—a trade he learned in his native Switzerland—and worked for many years as such on the top floor of the Meier & Frank department store in downtown Portland. Back in those days, the store sponsored varied activities for its employees and their families. In 1948 the store’s ski club, called SKIMF, contracted with two men calling themselves the “Mt. Hood Guide Service” to lead a group of employees and family members on a climb. Mom and her father signed up. One of the climb leaders was Gilbert Staender (1930–2016). He was only three years older than my mother. By the end of his life, he had become a renowned Northwest climber and a seventy-one-year member of the Mazamas. He was also involved in conservation causes and published a book about his time spent in Alaska’s Brooks Range. I don’t think my mother ever knew all that about her then eighteenyear-old guide. On July 8, 1948, just days before her climb, Mom acquired her climbing boots, which she described as “pretty neat” in her diary. I don’t know how she could have broken them in, but in fact issues with footwear would exclude my grandfather from the expedition. When the two reached Timberline Lodge, the climb’s departure point, the leaders found what my grandfather was wearing inadequate; he remained at the lodge while my mother climbed on. That memory was the other one that Mom regularly shared with us as kids when we asked about her adventure. She even wrote into her diary that, “daddy wasn’t able to go because of his shoes.” On Friday, July 9, my mother explained in her journal that, “I washed my hair and am getting ready to go climb Mt. Hood tomorrow night. Oh Boy.” The next day, she wrote just before “leaving in a few minutes for the climb,” that she was wearing her younger brother’s “long underwear and I am hot.” Then off she and grandfather went to Timberline, he driving his Model-A Ford that he kept for many years, even when car styles had decidedly moved on. Mother’s party climbed the night of the July 10 and 11. There were “18 boys [and] 4 girls,” according to mother’s diary. The climb register, which now resides in the Mazama archives, confirms this.
If the leaders recorded the May 30 we finally headed up climbers’ names there in the the mountain that had been order in which they were on such an important part of my the running belay, my mother family’s story since at least the was number 7. Number 8, time of my mother’s childhood. Jerry Parson, was perhaps It turned out to be an experience the anxious fellow creeping more than I had imagined. The up Mt. Hood behind Mom conditions were perfect, as was and whose nervousness she the comradeship. The assistant remembered so well, even was Michael Valentine. One of when Alzheimer’s had crept my BCEP assistant instructors, over her. Stacey Reding, was also there, as Peter Boag on the summit of Mt. Hood holding photo of his mother, Olga Horand, May 31, 2021. Photo: Sarah Geoghan Mom took her small were two of my teammates and camera along. I have tiny two others. I also carried my 10 black and white prints of that day in her life. Someone even essentials and so did not suffer sunburn as had my mom. snapped a photograph of her at the top, in a lounging pose, My group headed up the Mazama Chute. I don’t know Mom’s donning her new boots, and holding an enormous ice axe. Her exact route, but since they all appeared so challenging, it gave photos reveal that there were clouds, but also considerable sun. me a much greater appreciation for her achievement than I ever The latter is confirmed in her journal as is the fact that she seems had, thus making her story even more adventurous than what not to have known about the “10 essentials,” or at least all of them. I thought as a child. I also have a greater appreciation for poor Even though she had plenty of experience skiing in sunny weather Jerry Parson’s nervousness. I thought an awful lot about Mom that and sunscreen had become widely available in the decade before day—and occasionally Jerry—and I tucked into my pack a copy of her ascent, she wrote the day after her return from Hood that, “I the photograph of her on Mt. Hood in 1948. When I reached the sure looked awful today. I have water blisters between my mouth summit, I unwrapped it and held it before me. My teammate, Sarah and nose.” As a result, she informed her boyfriend (someone before Geoghan, recorded that moment for me, a moment that had been my father) that she would not be presentable in “public for three years in the making. days.” My Mom was only fifteen when she completed her climb—very In my thoughts, Mom led me not only up the South Sister, close to the beginning of her life. I am 59 and considerably closer but then subsequently up Mt. Shasta, and Mount St. Helens. This to the end of mine. I have kept a daily journal since June of 1983. spring (2021), I was able to participate in the Basic Climbing For May 31, 2021, I quoted my mother’s diary entry verbatim from Education Program (BCEP), after the heartbreak of it coming to July 11, 1948: “Well, I made it and am sure tired, but if I get a rest, I a swift end before it really even began in the spring of 2020 with will probably do it again.” Mom never did such a climb again, either the onset of COVID-19. Throughout all this, my goal was always to of Mt. Hood or any other major peak, at least as she “probably” climb Mt. Hood with a Mazama leading the way, hoping to come envisioned it back then. She has, however, accompanied me on yet closer to my mother’s experience and accomplishment. everyone of mine. In fact, after a scheduled climb led by my BCEP instructor, Greg Scott, was postponed due to weather, late on the night of JULY & AUGUST 2021 23
GOING SOLO by Jonathan Shaver
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ometimes, things don’t go as planned. And that is OK! One of my 2020 goals was to complete a solo backpack around Mt. Hood. I spend a lot of time on or around the mountain doing different things. It just seemed a bit silly that I didn’t have the loop under my belt. While such a trip would not be a big deal for many of you, I am not any form of distance hiker. Rather, a day hiker and very occasional backpacker. The 40-ish miles of the Timberline Trail (and its significant elevation changes) would be an accomplishment. I set aside several possible windows of time over a period of six weeks. This gave me multiple opportunities to try and time a mid-week hike with good weather.
It turns out that COVID wasn’t all 2020 had to offer the Pacific Northwest. There were also massive fires and windstorms. My pack sat ready to go for weeks. Several times I came to within a day of leaving, only to cancel. There was iffy weather, then the air was filled with heavy, unhealthy smoke. Just as things were improving, I watched the White River fire announce itself on the Mt. Hood Meadows webcam. Soon all of the Mt. Hood National Forest was closed to the public. September largely came and went, leaving a trail of destruction across much of the state. Then, in the waning days of the month, the north side of the Mt. Hood National Forest reopened. The weather was looking good and I was a go! That is until I heard from rangers that the trail was largely impassable due to miles of downed trees. It was time for a back-up plan. Much of the state was still obscured in smoke and some areas remained closed to travel. I began tracking the wildfires and air quality online. I found a window of clear sky surrounding Broken Top and South Sister. Forecasts suggested that it would hold for a few days. I quickly plotted out a track in Gaia GPS and printed a Above: Three Sisters from Golden Lake Camp. Photo: Jonathan Shaver
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copy to leave with my wife. My patiently waiting pack and I were gone in the morning. It was October 1. In trips of years past, I had hiked Broken Top to No Name Lake, summited South Sister and packed into other nearby lakes. Those earlier trips had left me with an idea for a good loop. With a bit of digging, I found reassuring reports from others that had made a similar trip. I got an early start from home, arriving at Three Creeks Lake mid-morning. There were few vehicles at the Tam McArthur Rim Trailhead. The sky was blue, quite fantastic weather actually. The exception was the somewhat distressing layers of smoke that hovered in several directions. I set out quickly - Before the smoke could convince me otherwise. I enjoyed great views while ascending to the top of the rim. This is a popular trail and for good reason. The upper rim also marks the end of the Forest Service maintained trail. A sign offers caution to those who venture beyond. A well-worn path continues past, and so did I. The vistas somehow improved as I gained more elevation. The geography shifted from greens to reds and became more “volcanic.” It was going to be a good day.
Looking up toward Broken Hand. Photo: Jonathan Shaver
The trail petered out near the raised butte of Broken Hand. Some light scrambling got me over and around, bringing new views. Standing on a narrow spine, Bend Glacier and the Three Ladies were off the north side, while Broken Top was literally right in my face. Mt Bachelor rose to the south. The rest of the Cascades were smears in the smoky haze. I was surprised to see No Name Lake was a series of melding browns, greens and yellows. I mean, a really nasty-looking bit of water. Strange, and a far cry from the gorgeous ice-blue scenes I have known. Curious, I walked down to the edge of the lake. Finding no reason to linger, I descended the flank below, looking for a home. I found a nice creekside spot tucked into a small scrabble of trees. Once set up for the night, I settled in for a comfortable dinner. Seven miles hiked, with 2,087 ft. of elevation gained and 1,030 ft. descended. The bubble of clear sky held, treating me to a nice showing of Big Dipper and company. It was a picturebook spot and I had it to myself. After a hot breakfast, morning found me following the creek downhill to the popular Broken Top Trail. I worked around the southern and then western sides of Broken Top itself. Soon my Solomon trail shoes began to balk at the effort. I have a good and comfortable history with these shoes. But now they were biting both of my feet and I could feel blisters forming. I took a break and discovered that the edges of both insoles had buckled and started to tear. Right where the arches meet the body of the shoe. This had also caused a bit of fraying to the internal material. I did my best to trim the offending areas of the shoe and insoles with Micro Leatherman scissors. I slapped Leukotape on my feet and got back to it. South Sister made a bold appearance, prompting fond memories. I quickly forgot about my dying shoes. A meandering creek made for a good opportunity to filter and top off on water. Moments later, I couldn’t resist taking another break to eat in the shade alongside Green Lakes. While I only crossed a handful of
Big Dipper from below Broken Top. Photo: Jonathan Shaver
people yesterday, this area was flush with day hikers, trail runners and backpackers. Not so much though that it detracted from the experience. I pushed on, northward and east. Climbing again, as the route continued to twist around Broken Top. Golden Lake would be my second home. A nice spot of water and meadow that backs into the steep scree slopes of the mountain’s northern shoulder. Nine miles hiked for the day, 758 ft. gained, 1,732 ft. descended. With camp tucked into a ledge of large boulders, I marveled at the smoke that continued to blanket the near horizon. Somehow my air remained fresh. I was treated to a nice sunset, then more stars and
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Broken Top. Photo: Jonathan Shaver
Solo, continued from previous page. a moonrise. Suddenly quite chilled, I headed for the tent. I would never get warm that night, though I was sweating at times. I had eaten well for dinner, had a cup of hot tea, and my gear was more than adequate for the barely frosting temps. I suspect now that I was a bit dehydrated. It certainly had been a warm and sunny couple of days on the trail. Whatever the reason, it was a long, uncomfortable night. Coffee and the morning sun felt great. Though seeing fresh bear tracks in the meadow, mere yards from my tent gave me a moment of pause. I had an otherwise leisurely morning. Packing up a bit at a time, in between cups of coffee, filtering water and breakfast. I shouldered my ever lighter pack and found myself on the trail again. Weaving my way east and then south. Down and up. This was the first time I had been through the Pole Creek burn. It was
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both devastating and beautiful. I enjoyed more good views of the Sisters, though now from fresh angles. And soon I finished drawing a circle around Broken Top. I exited the woods, mere feet from where I started 48 hours prior. Unlike when I arrived, Three Creeks Lake was now very busy. It was a Saturday and it appeared that everyone in Central Oregon had arrived to escape the smoke with a swim or paddle. I too had a quick swim and enjoyed a very cold, celebratory IPA that had been waiting for me in the truck. Eight miles had wrapped up the trip, with a seesaw 1,037 ft. up and 1,145 ft. down. It was not a circumnavigation of Mt. Hood, but I did go around a mountain. And it was great.
MAZAMA TRAIL TRIPS
MAZAMA CLASSICS
Go to mazamas.org/hike to see the upcoming hikes on our calendar.
For members with 25 years of membership, or for those who prefer to travel at a more leisurely pace.
Please review the Mazama organizational COVID-19 policies prior to signing up for a hike at mazamas.org/ covid, and plan to adhere to all policies during any Mazama activity.
HK 1.5 Jul 6. Wild Cat. Flora Huber. 8.6 mi., 500 ft. Meet at Sandy Safeway at 9 a.m. HK C2 Jul 9. Devils’ Peak Lookout (Cool Creek). Emily Walbridge. Starting at the Cool Creek trailhead, we’ll traverse our way up to Devil’s Peak. This is approximately seven miles out and back to the Fire Lookout at the top with views of Mt Hood. The vertical gain on this trail makes this a moderately difficult hike, with some sections reaching a 25 percent incline grade. It is primarily forested with a few breaks allowing views of Mt. Hood on the way up. 7 mi., 3,200 ft. Meet at Sandy Safeway at 8:30 a.m. HK B2 Jul 10. Gnarl Ridge/Elk Meadows Loop. Bill Stein, 503-830-0817. This loop hike will visit the high point on the Timberline Trail and ford Newton Creek. Gnarl Ridge is among the more awe-inspiring hikes on the east side of Mt Hood. If the mountain is visible at all, our photos should be spectacular, and there will also be wildflowers. But please only sign up for this hike if you are experienced and comfortable with gnarly river crossings, negotiating downed trees, and possible use of microspikes. A NW Forest Pass is required to park. 10 mi., 2,400 ft. Meet at Elk Meadow Trailhead at 8 a.m. HK C2 Jul 13. Devils’ Rest from Larch Mtn. Flora Huber. 5 mi., 300 ft. Meet at Lewis and Clark State Park, Hwy 84 meet at 9 a.m. HK C2 Jul 20. Sleeping Beauty. Flora Huber. 3.2 mi., 1,410 ft. Meet at Lewis and Clark State Park at 9 a.m. HK C2 Jul 27. Lewis River Falls Flora Huber. 6.4 mi., 600 ft. Meet at Lewis and Clark State Park at 9 a.m.
We lead a wide variety of year-round activities including hikes, picnics, and cultural excursions. Share years of happy Mazama memories with our group. All ages are welcome to join the fun. CONTACTING THE CLASSICS Contact the Classics Chair Flora Huber at 503-658-5710, flobell17@comcast.net, or classics@mazamas.org. SUPPORT THE CLASSICS Classics needs a volunteer to put more content in our column on a quarterly basis. We want to document past Classics events and make sure that our postings to the web are current and complete. More generally, there is always work to be done on the committee. Our meetings are the fourth Monday of every other month at 11 a.m. on Zoom. Email classics@mazamas.org and tell us how you can help. CLASSICS HIKES All of Flora Huber’s hikes, see the column to the left, are geared to Classics. CLASSICS COMMITTEE MEETING Keep an eye on the Mazama calendar for our next meeting.
DICK & JANE MILLER’S JULY 4TH POTLUCK! DATE: JULY 3 | 12:30 P.M.
Longtime Mazamas Dick and Jane Miller are hosting their annual mid-summer potluck celebration and you’re invited! If you’ve never attended one of the picnics or have been before, plan to come this year and invite another Classic Mazama or significant other to share in potluck fashion: main dish, salad, or dessert. Lemonade and water will be provided. Also provided will be plates, cups, forks, knives and spoons. Plan to arrive at 12:30 p.m. and eat at 1 p.m. To ensure as safe of an experience as possible, all attendees must be vaccinated.
JULY & AUGUST 2021 27
MAZAMA STAFF CHANGES Claire Nelson, our
Education and Culture Manager, is departing from her Mazama role and her last day was June 17. Claire came to the Mazamas in January of 2017 and over the last 4-years she has put her expertise to use in many and varied ways—developing partnerships to offer climbing opportunities to local organizations; growing Mazama Wild into an 8-week summer camp program that is in high demand; engaging in the Mazamas diversity, equity, and inclusion work (DEI); supporting Education committees; and over the past year, managing the Mazama work in the Mountain Education Alliance. Claire has shown dedication to collaboration, increasing our financial equity through scholarship and sliding scale payment programs, and inspiring the next generation of Mazamas.
What was your favorite thing about working for the Mazamas?
My favorite part of my job was all the great partner programming and culture projects I was lucky enough to get to support, such as Unclimb Nights, the Melanated Mazamas, our DEI group, and more. The Mazama knowledge base and facilities are such a resource to the greater mountain community, and I hope we continue to leverage our assets to support all groups who love the mountains. What did you find most challenging?
One of the challenging things as a staff person can be keeping track of all the things. We do so many things! Also, when working with a team of staff, everyone more or less is on the same schedule, and has time in their work day to execute projects together. However, Mazama volunteers all have lives outside of the organization and are doing a lot of work during the free time they have. It takes practice in this role to slow the process down, and give people the space they need to do the work. What will you miss about working with and for the Mazamas?
My favorite thing about working at the Mazamas was the people I got to work with along the way. There are absolutely wonderful people who dedicate so much time to this organization, and I’m going to miss working with them on a regular basis. Also, I couldn’t be more grateful to the amazing staff team here. It really feels like we’re a community, and I’m going to miss seeing them as much as I have over the last four years.
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Kelsey Shaw, our
Membership Services Administrator, joined the Mazamas in September of 2017 and immediately took to the unpredictability of Mazama life. Her first month at the Mazamas revolved around not only doing all the things she was hired to do—managing phones, office volunteers, the day-to-day office needs, and member inquiries— but also helping ensure the Portland Alpine Fest was a success. Kelsey quickly demonstrated her ability to juggle multiple projects and think on her feet. Over the past few years her position at the Mazamas has grown with her and has come to include our weekly member communications; supporting our activity committees; updating our website; managing our Salesforce database; and so much more. Kelsey is pursuing her law degree and will be starting at Lewis & Clark in the fall. Her last day with us will be July 29.
What was your favorite thing about working for the Mazamas?
My favorite part of working for the Mazamas is the look on people’s faces the first time they do something they previously thought out of their abilities, like rappelling or climbing to the top of the wall. At that moment, you can see the person’s confidence blossoming right there as they release their pent-up breath and smile. The best for me is helping groups of teenagers have that moment together in the Holman Auditorium. Watching the embarrassment fade as a teenager gets into the flow of climbing, and then the smile on their face as they hear their peers cheering them on from the floor has definitely brought tears to my eyes. It is a magical thing! What did you find most challenging?
One of the hardest aspects of working in the inherently risky mountaineering business is our proximity to injury and death. We have been lucky not to have had a lot of incidents during my time at the Mazamas, but that has made the few that have happened all the more devastating. I think the anxiety that comes whenever I hear of a climbing accident or when I am near a mountain and hear a helicopter overhead will stay with me for a long time. What will you miss about working with and for the Mazamas?
The reason that anxiety is so present for me is because of my connection to the Mazama community. I will deeply miss the people I have befriended while working here. My coworkers have become part of my little Portland family, especially during this past year. Members and volunteers have become friends and advisors— encouraging me to test my limits, exposing me to new perspectives and ways of thinking, and trusting me with the locations of their secret outdoor spots. I will be forever grateful for the people I have met while working here.
MAZAMA BYLAWS UPDATE by the Executive Council & Bylaws Team
D
uring the last few months we have heard quite a few members express confusion and concern regarding some of the proposed Bylaws Amendments. The Bylaws Team and the Executive Council have heard this feedback and have made the decision to significantly reduce the number of Bylaws Amendments that we are proposing for this election cycle.
This Bylaws Amendment project started in the fall of 2019 after a Mazama member raised a concern about the Mazama membership requirement to summit a glaciated peak. It was this single issue that was the focus of the Executive Council at that time as they initially reached out to committees and leaders within the organization, and as they created a Bylaws Team. Throughout the process of exploring the removal of summiting a glaciated peak as a membership requirement, the Executive Council and Bylaws Team thought it was worthwhile to rework our Bylaws to remove outdated language and to reduce the amount of operational specificity to allow for flexibility. We realize that the number of changes proposed seem significant, and that we need more time to engage the community to ensure the proposals are well understood prior to the election. We sincerely appreciate the feedback we have received and would like to thank everyone who has been involved in this process. For the 2021 election, there will be one Bylaw Amendment on the ballot— Article III – Members, Section 1, item will change from: Annual member – Any person who has climbed by foot to the summit of a qualifying mountain, on the sides of which there is at least one living glacier, shall be eligible for annual membership. to: Annual member – Application for membership shall be open to any person who supports the purpose statement in Article II* and whose values are congruent with those of the Mazamas. Continuing membership is contingent upon being up-to-date on membership dues. YOUR EXECUTIVE COUNCIL IS PROPOSING THIS CHANGE FOR THE FOLLOWING REASONS:
■ To be a more welcoming and inclusive organization ■ To provide an opportunity for everyone who supports our mission to choose to become a full, contributing member to the Mazamas ■ To acknowledge that our organization has evolved, and like other alpine organizations we have expanded our offerings to include hiking, street rambles, backpacking trips, backcountry skiing, canyoneering, nordic programs, and kid’s camps. All of our activities are connected to our core mission and many folks who engage in these programs would like to become members. ■ Due to climate change we must acknowledge that the glaciers are receding and maintaining the membership requirement may not be viable for the long term. ■ Eliminating this requirement has the potential to increase our membership numbers and it opens up opportunities for foundation funding and a variety of grants we’re currently not eligible for since we are an exclusive organization due to having a prerequisite for membership Changing our membership requirement to fully share the opportunities of membership shows we are confident in who we are. We want people to share the experiences we’ve had ourselves of personal growth, and wonder of the mountains. We want them to volunteer and dedicate themselves to making the Mazamas the amazing community it is, and to inspire each other. WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO VOTE IN FAVOR OF THIS BYLAWS AMENDMENT IN OCTOBER.
ELECTION TIMELINE » July 12: Voter Guide comments due. Submit comments at tinyurl. com/2021MazElection Comments may be up to 250 words. » Aug. 1: Voter Guide Published. See details below on submitting a comment. » Aug. 15: Opt-Out Period for Online Voting Ends. » Aug. 18: Virtual Information Session. » Aug. 25: Information Session at the MMC. » Sept. 7: Paper Ballots Mailed & Online Voting Begins. » Oct. 4 at 5 p.m.: Voting closes (paper ballots must be received by 5 p.m. to be counted) » Oct. 4 at appx. 8 p.m.: Vote results announced Please go to mazamas. org/bylaws for more information.
*Article II: The Mazamas is organized and shall be operated exclusively for charitable, educational and scientific purposes as defined in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. In furtherance thereof, the object, business and pursuit of the Mazamas shall be to promote mountaineering, climbing safety, and the exploration of the alpine environment, especially in the Pacific Northwest, by providing educational and training opportunities related to mountaineering and the alpine environment; collecting, preserving and disseminating scientific information, memorabilia, data and knowledge concerning the same; supporting the conservation and preservation of the natural environment; providing and promoting climbing, hiking, outings, expeditions and other activities; and encouraging good fellowship and the representation of the interests and concerns of its members. [Note: Article II is provided as a reference for the reader; Article II remains unchanged.]
JULY & AUGUST 2021 29
AN UNEXPECTEDLY LONG DAY ON MT. ELLINOR
by Christine Troy
T
he weather was forecast to be beautiful and sunny, perfect for my first provisional lead, an A-level climb up the SE Chute of Mt. Ellinor in the Olympic Mountains. Our team of eleven had two recent BCEP grads and nine experienced climbers including a PMR member, backcountry ski patroller, nurse, doctor, and Wilderness First Responder (WFR). As we met at the Lower Trailhead, I was a tad self-conscious about the amount of gear I was carrying. Would I really need two puffy jackets, an insulated pad, bivy bag, shovel, and huge amount of food for this straight-forward climb on a gorgeous spring day with a highly capable team?
The climb to the top was fun and uneventful in nearly perfect snow conditions. We enjoyed the views from the summit, took pictures, admired the mountain goats, then prepared to descend. Two short glissades got us to the top of the main chute which was the last technical section before the two-mile trail back to the cars. It was just after twelve o’clock. There were rocks in the top of the glissade chute so we opted to plunge step down below the rocks before attempting to glissade again. It was at this point that one of the experienced climbers slipped. While attempting to self-arrest, one of their feet hit something in the snow, resulting in a severely broken ankle. The climber slid to a safe stop on a flatter section, and the team sprang into action to assess the patient and make a plan. Due to the nature of the injury and the fact that we still had about 600 vertical feet of steep snow slopes to descend, we realized fairly quickly that we would need outside assistance to evacuate the patient. Cell phone service was spotty but we were able to call 911 at 12:17 p.m. and inform them that our patient was stable but 30 MAZAMAS
would need a rescue to get them out of the mountains. At that point, it became a waiting game—and waiting, and waiting. We used the shovel to make a flat platform and lay the patient onto an insulated pad. Eventually, the wind kicked up a bit and clouds rolled up from the valley below. We all put on extra clothing and covered the patient with the bivy sack and their emergency blanket. With a frustrating sense of irony, we watched a parade of people in gym shoes and cotton t-shirts— without ice axes, helmets, or even trekking poles—ascend the mountain and then “glissade” back down. Some of them seemed out of control—sliding head first, getting air time, etc.—I was sure we were going to end up with additional patients. Since we were fairly close to the trailhead we considered splitting up and taking the majority of the team back to the cars. We set 7 p.m. as a deadline to make this decision. Ultimately, because the weather was nice, we kept the team together to have additional people to help with the evacuation.
Just after 6 p.m. Olympic Mountain Rescue (OMR) made it to our location. Their preference was to evacuate the patient via helicopter but due to another incident on The Brothers elsewhere in the Olympics it was not available. This meant using ropes and anchors to lower the patient in a litter down the steep snow slopes then carrying them out along the trail. The location of the accident was less than 1 mile and 1,000 vertical feet from the Upper Trailhead yet it took just shy of 11 hours from the time we called 911 until the patient was in the care of the ambulance crew. The evacuation itself took 4–5 hours. We started our descent around 7 p.m. and made it back to the Upper Trailhead and waiting ambulance in the dark around 11:30 p.m. By the time we made it back to our cars at the Lower Trailhead, it was well after midnight. The injured climber required surgery and faces a lengthy healing process, but expects to make a full recovery. For me, the key takeaway from this experience was that even on "easy" routes with good weather, steep snow
can be treacherous. Properly equipped, experienced climbers can slip and be injured, and a relatively benign slip can result in serious injury. I hope that by sharing this story, gear list, and additional observations that you consider evaluating what gear you carry to respond to an emergency and unexpected lengthy stay in the backcountry. Thanks to the entire climb team for their collaborative efforts during the rescue, especially Marc Milobinski, Thomas Clarke, and Tom Shi for their medical and rescue expertise. A huge thanks also to Olympic Mountain Rescue for their technical evacuation expertise. GEAR WE USED IN RESPONSE TO THE INCIDENT ■ Insulated inflatable pad ■ Emergency bivy (SOL Thermal Bivy, heavier duty than the light mylar version) ■ Heavy duty emergency blanket (more like a tarp than a mylar space blanket) ■ Snow shovel ■ All our extra clothing layers, including heavy mittens ■ All our extra food and water ■ Cell phones (we had spotty signal; we also had an inReach) ■ Sit pads ( for splinting) ■ Ace bandages ( for splinting) ■ Tylenol and ibuprofen (enough for multiple doses) ■ External battery and charger cord for phones ■ Printed copy of SOAP Note and Mazama Emergency Call Protocol and a pen
ADDITIONAL ITEMS THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN USEFUL ■ More clothing layers—this was a key take away for all of us. I had my typical spring climbing layering system including two puffies, a softshell, a base layer, my rain gear, hat, and heavy mittens and was still getting cold. Thankfully the weather was dry and mild with only light wind. We got uncomfortably cold, but not dangerously cold. If the weather was worse, we may have to have had to contend with hypothermia. ■ All climbers carrying an extra battery for their cell phone—most people’s phones were dead by the end of the day unless they had access to an external battery. I will add this to the gear list for my future climbs. ■ A plug adaptor to be able to charge different brands of cell phones—different phones had cell service at different times. If you don’t have an extra battery for your phone, at least bring a charging cable. ■ More extra food—all the extra food we brought as part of the Ten Essentials was eaten. If we were out longer, we would have gotten very hungry. ■ A spare headlamp as part of group gear—it is likely someone will forget to pack one and it makes hiking out in the dark much safer if everyone has one. ■ A stove—while we didn’t strictly need a stove, having one would have helped keep people warm with hot water bottles or possibly tea/cocoa and would have given people something to do during
our long hours waiting. This would have been much more important if the weather was worse. ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS:
■ Not every 911 dispatcher/SAR coordinator/rescuer I spoke to was familiar with UTM coordinates. Best practice is to give both UTM and latitude/longitude then confirm that the person has found your location on a map (see the next point). Also give your altitude if possible. ■ During my initial call to 911, in addition to the coordinates mentioned above I also provided a verbal description of our location that was accidentally incorrect. Despite the specific (and accurate) UTM coordinates, this description was what was passed along to the SAR team, resulting in the rescue team bringing shorter than ideal ropes. Communication between the multiple groups involved in a rescue is confusing. It is not enough to assume the rescuers will plot your UTM coordinates on a map to identify where you are. Be mindful that verbal descriptions can be misunderstood, and be especially diligent about making sure everyone is aware of the correct information. ■ Carry your ID, health insurance info, a little cash, and a debit/credit card in your pack in case you are evacuated off the mountain and taken straight to the hospital without stopping by your car. ■ Take a Wilderness First Aid (WFA) or WFR class if you haven’t already! JULY & AUGUST 2021 31
LYME DISEASE IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST “Let me start by saying that having been bitten by a tick before, I took my recent tick bite far too casually, so I decided to post this as a warning to take all tick bites seriously. On April 22, I hiked Mt. Defiance. On my way home, I felt something under my armpit, so I pulled up my sleeve to discover a tick. I pulled over at Multnomah Falls and with the tweezers on my pocket knife I was able to remove it. Did not think too much about it; after all, Lyme disease in the Pacific Northwest is very rare, less than a dozen cases a year, and I removed him early so I was not worried. Two days later I flew to Maui and developed some of the following symptoms—headache, not over the top but definitely felt like my head was full; a bit of neck stiffness; throat was not sore but dry at night. Hey I was in Hawaii so I figured I had a few too many pints and the sun, so again did not think too much about it. A few Advil took care of the headache so I figured it was no big deal. In addition, the wound looked fine—no evidence of the classic sign of a bullseye, just a small red spot where the tick bit me. After multiple days of a persistent headache, I became concerned that I contracted Lyme disease. The persistent headache concerned me as I NEVER get headaches. I’m 58 and can count the number of times I have gotten a headache on one hand. My internet medical degree told me that something was going on so I consulted with my doctor. Lyme disease is very treatable in the early stages so out of an abundance of caution I got a prescription for amoxicillin. The amoxicillin did the job! It took about two days till it kicked in, but my persistent headache disappeared and I am back to 100 percent. Which leads me to believe that it was Lyme disease. Lesson learned! Next time I will keep the tick so it can be tested and not be so nonchalant about a tick bite. Take it seriously—even though the odds were against it being Lyme, if it was, the consequences of untreated Lyme disease could have been horrid.” –Rico Micallef, Mazama Climb and BCEP leader
by Brian Goldman
R
ico did the right thing by playing it safe and seeing a doctor. This article is an overview of Lyme disease—what it is; symptoms; prevention; treatment; prevalence.
What is Lyme Disease? Lyme disease was first identified in the 1970s in a small town called Lyme, Connecticut. It is a multisystem inflammatory zoonotic disease caused by a spirochete bacterium from the Borrelia genus. A majority of the cases in the U.S. are caused by the Borrelia burgdorferi strain, which is spread by the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis) and the western black-legged tick (Ixodes Above:”Ticks on Finger” by fairfaxcounty is licensed with CC BY-ND 2.0.
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pacificus); these are both commonly known as the deer tick. The archetypal bullseye rash, erythema migrans (EM), was first described over 130 years ago. The black-legged ticks feed on hosts (usually deer but also mice, squirrels, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and humans) at each of the four stages of life. The highest risk of human infection is not the adult stage (easy to see and pull off the tick) but at the nymph and larval stage. During the eight-legged nymph stage, the tick is a tiny black dot, nearly impossible to see. This nymph has more time to transmit the Borrelia bacteria to an unsuspecting host. Usually, the tick must be attached 24–48 hours to transmit Lyme, but because the nymphs are so tiny they often go unnoticed. According to some researchers, the rise in Lyme disease cases is related to an increase in mice populations due to warmer temperatures allowing for longer feeding times for the ticks. This
is bad news for humans. Children are the most rapidly growing demographic to be infected. What are the Symptoms? Lyme disease symptoms generally have three stages: First Stage (3–30 days): The early or first stage is typically the bullseye rash (erythema migrans), which appears where the tick bites you. The rash is actually the disease’s bacterial spirochetes proliferating and burrowing under the skin. Patients may have multiple bullseye rashes, although that doesn’t mean there are multiple bites. Not everyone gets the bullseye rash—generally 70–80 percent in all reported cases. Second Stage: Lyme’s second stage may include flu-like symptoms such as fever, body or joint aches, chills, fatigue, swollen lymph nodes, nausea and vomiting, headache or neurologic deficits like Bell’s palsy that causes one side of the face to droop. If it’s not treated, Lyme can then progress to symptoms such as Lyme carditis, or heart block, meaning your heart’s electrical circuits fail to conduct signals properly. That can require cardiac intervention such as a pacemaker, or even treatment in the intensive care unit. Third Stage: Patients with late-stage Lyme may also suffer swelling and pain in a single joint, such as the knee. There are also less common neurologic manifestations that may occur such as painful or painless nerve dysfunction. These symptoms can occur months or even years after Lyme disease infection. If left untreated, Lyme sufferers can develop arthritis, neurological symptoms (memory loss, mood swings, irritability, lack of concentration, meningitis). Some develop Post-Treatment Lyme Disease Syndrome, in which symptoms reappear after completion of treatment of the initial disease. What’s the Difference Between COVID-19 and Lyme Disease Symptoms? Unlike COVID, Lyme does not usually affect the pulmonary system or cause shortness of breath. The tick-borne diseases aren’t going to give you a sore throat or shortness of breath or cough. Lyme is not contagious from person-to-person. How Do I Prevent Lyme Disease? Try not to get bitten. Remove the tick as soon as possible. Ticks like warm, moist, dark places, although they can latch anywhere. Places to look include exposed skin, in and around the ears, on the scalp, under the arms (like Rico), around the belly button, in the pubic area, behind the knees and around the waist. Although most experts say ticks need to be latched for 24–48 hours in order for Lyme to be transmitted, new research suggests transmission may occur rapidly upon being bitten, as the spirochete is present in the salivary glands prior to latching. European ticks have been found to have faster transmission times. There are many myths surrounding how to best remove a tick, including a hot match, Vaseline, kerosene, or fingernail polish. These methods increase the likelihood of the tick regurgitating the bacterium into the host. The proper way to remove a tick is to grasp between the skin and the tick with tweezers and apply slow and steady pressure straight back. If all of the tick does not come out clean, try to remove the remaining parts with tweezers. If that is not possible, leave the remaining parts in the skin and clean with soap and water.
There is debate on whether you should save the tick and send it in for analysis. An infected tick does not mean you have been infected. The results may take too long to return if you do have an infection. You could still get Lyme disease – for example, if another tick bit you. For those who play or work in the outdoors in tick-infested areas, the CDC recommends the use of insect repellents specific to ticks. The most effective repellents contain 20 percent or more DEET, picaridin, or IR3535. Repellents should be used on exposed skin. Clothing and equipment (tents, boots, etc.) should be treated with products that contain 0.5 percent permethrin. In New England, this author has seen nearly everyone apply both sunscreen and DEET at the trailhead. There are alternative options, many not approved by the CDC or EPA. Certain essential oils such rosemary, lemongrass, cedar, peppermint, thyme, and geraniol, Neem, and Nootkatone ( from Alaskan Yellow Cedar or Grapefruit) are being developed into commercially available tick repellents, but are awaiting EPA approval. The CDC provides information for other natural options. The human behavior that supports the best likelihood of avoiding tick exposure, other than insect repellent use, is choice of clothing. Wearing long sleeves and pants with pants tucked into socks or gaiters prevents ticks from gaining a foothold. Laundering of clothing, including 20 minutes of high heat, may be enough to kill the ticks hiding in clothes. Impregnating clothing with permethrin may help to reduce the number of attached nymphs by more than 95 percent. Wear shoes, a hat, socks and light-colored clothing to spot ticks easily. Avoid sitting on the ground or stone walls. Stay in the center of hiking trails avoiding tall grass and open fields. If clothes require washing first, hot water is recommended. Cold and medium temperatures will not kill ticks. Shower soon after being outdoors. Showering within two hours of coming indoors has been shown to reduce your risk of getting Lyme disease. Showering may help wash off unattached ticks. Conduct a full body check upon return from potentially tickinfested areas, including your own backyard. Use a hand-held or full-length mirror to view all parts of your body. You can get ticks from your yard while gardening. Wood piles can harbor ticks. Ticks tend to live in grassy, brushy or wooded areas or even on animals. Check pets that go outside for ticks, especially in the summer months. Checking your furry friends will help ensure they’re not bringing home unwanted guests. What Happens If I Get Lyme Disease? According to the NIH, the risk of developing Lyme disease from a tick bite is small, since not all ticks are carriers. According to the NIH, most physicians prefer not to treat patients bitten by ticks with antibiotics unless they develop symptoms of Lyme disease. On the other hand, the NIH says one-fourth of the people who become infected with Lyme disease do not develop the characteristic bullseye rash and many may not even remember having been bitten recently by a tick. If you have suspicious symptoms see your doctor immediately. Your doctor may perform an ELISA (Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) test. ELISA detects antibodies to B. burgdorferi. But because it can sometimes provide false-positive results, it’s not used as the sole basis for diagnosis. If the ELISA test
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Lyme Disease, continued from previous page is positive, the Western blot test is usually done to confirm the diagnosis. The standard treatment for early-state Lyme disease is doxycycline for adults and children older than eight or amoxicillin or cefuroxime for adults, younger children or breastfeeding women, usually a 14–21 day course of antibiotics. If the disease involves the central nervous system, your doctor may recommend intravenous antibiotics. Is Lyme Disease in the Pacific Northwest? Recently, Lyme disease has been found in beaches, mostly during the rainy season, in northern California in areas of grass and scrub in quantities that are the same as woodland habitats. Researchers found Borrelia burgdorferi in 4.1 percent of the adult ticks in coastal scrub and 3.9 percent of the adult ticks in woodland areas. Although most cases are in the Northeastern states, according to the Oregon Health Authority, about 40–80 cases of Lyme disease are diagnosed in Oregon each year, peaking in July or August. In 2015, 120 cases of the disease were reported in dogs. The median age in humans was 37. In Oregon, 63 percent of the cases were female in 2019. There is an upward trend in infections. There could be more local interaction with ticks in the environment. Recent estimates suggest approximately 476,000 people may get Lyme disease annually in the United States. If the above hasn’t terrified you, let’s close with another tick experience from Mazama Kate Evans. “Over years of hiking I have been bitten by many ticks, including on the Elk-King traverse, Defiance, Hamilton, and Dog Mountain After I removed the tick on my waist from the Dog Mountain hike, I thought that was the end of the problem, until I saw the bullseye rash on the tick site. Nurse practitioner and Mazama friend Sherry Bourdin confirmed that it was probably Lyme. I saw my doctor. Diagnosis confirmed and doxycycline prescribed with no after effects. I felt very fortunate that my Lyme presented the classic bullseye as 70–80 percent of the cases do. Amy Tan, my shero and one of my favorite writers, was not so lucky. She had undiagnosed Lyme disease for over a year and with her puzzling, debilitating symptoms, her mother’s dementia, and her father’s and brother’s deaths from brain cancer years before, it was an awful time. If you are bitten by a tick do not assume you are Lyme disease free if you do not have a bullseye rash!”
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THE HARDEST NON-MAZAMA CLIMB I EVER LED by Leora Gregory
T
he hardest climb that I ever led was back in 2011 for the siblings and several friends of a woman who died on Mt. Hood. The father grilled me the evening before the memorial climb as to why I thought that I was capable of taking his surviving offspring up the same mountain that killed his daughter.
By that time, I had led some 35 private climbs of various sizes up mountains, and had attempted various routes up Mt. Hood 52 times, of which 33 were successful, so I wasn’t lacking for experience nor confidence. Besides, I was quite confident in the team that we’d assembled for the climb: in addition to myself, I had three VERY experienced mountaineers (one who was an active member of Portland Mountain Rescue), two additional experienced mountaineers (all friends of the deceased, or involved in the search for her remains); and then the three complete novice siblings with whom I spent a prior day on Mt. Hood training for exactly how we would execute the climb, and one person with some previous ice climbing experience. I was leading the climb because I was the only one without any emotional attachment to the victim, so I could fully concentrate on the climb, itself. If it wasn’t already plain to me, before, how important it was that everything go smoothly, this father’s pained grilling made it clear: I knew that I had to get them all up and down without a scrape. The 15 pounds of the victim’s ashes were distributed among the team members. After several hours, it became clear that not everyone would make it. One of the very experienced folks took the lagging sibling for a private memorial service near the Hogsback, and the rest of us went to the summit for the planned memorial service. The descent went without a hitch, although I stayed behind and walked out one member of the team with a knee issue, while the rest went on ahead. The relief that I felt when that climb was over was IMMENSE. It made me realize just how much angst I had executing the climb. The whole experience really drove home the responsibility that a leader takes on in leading a climb, and how much trust, not only the team members place in leaders, but also, sometimes, their family and friends.
SAYING GOODBYE SEPTEMBER 10, 1951– APRIL 20, 2021
Ann was raised on the shores of the Columbia River. She grew up with the river as a constant friend and could be spotted cruising the shores in her home-built dinghy with her trusty dog at the bow. Ann graduated from Madison High and the Ann Neuenschwander University of Oregon, where she made lifetime friendships. An intrepid traveler, Ann formed strong bonds around the world as a Peace Corps volunteer. She returned to Portland, becoming an ESL teacher and training aspiring employees better English for advancement. In her time in the Mazamas, 2000–2015, she focused on being a Trail Trip leader, and led 38 hikes over eight years. Ann inspired those around her to be kind, to enjoy precious moments, and to care deeply for one another. She will be greatly missed by all who were touched by her and those that loved her.
NOVEMBER 27, 1930– JUNE 4, 2021
Elizabeth grew up in Essex, Mass and moved to Portland, Oregon in 1952. Soon after moving to Portland, she met Jim Wendlandt at the Mazama Lodge. She and Jim were a good team, devoted to each other in marriage for Elizabeth Wendlandt 65-years, until his death in 2018. They visited every nook and cranny of Oregon, all 49 other states, the far reaches of Canada, and Europe. Elizabeth earned a master’s degree in library science from Portland State University and worked as a librarian for Portland Public Schools. When she wasn’t caring for the family, teaching, hiking, quilting, crafting, skiing, breaking out in song or traveling, she was an avid community volunteer. She was editor of the Mazama Monthly Bulletin for a decade. She was an editor of Nick Dodge’s Climbers’ Guide to Oregon. The Mazamas awarded her the Alfred Parker Cup in 1967 for her hard work, ability, and sacrifice on behalf of the organization. JULY & AUGUST 2021 35
THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE DOCUMENTING THE AFTERMATH OF WASHINGTON’S STEPPE FIRES
by Darrin Gunkel
T
he sage lands east of the Cascade mountains are often called desert. A superficial glance affirms the misnomer. Negative space dominates: usually empty skies, bare rock, few signs of life beyond endless sage stands or scrawny coyotes, fewer signs of humans, and big, big silence. That silence is a draw: an escape from the busy clatter of life west of the mountains. Especially once winter begins setting in. So I am in for a shock on a trip to the dry side last November: kept awake all night by train traffic driving an aural spike through the peace and quiet of Yakima Canyon in eastern Washington.
Normally, camping at Umtanum, or any of the few other BLM recreation areas in the Yakima Canyon, you can expect freight trains, thrumming and bumping down the canyon, once or twice a night. They're barely a distraction. This night, fitting in this anything-but-normal year—and appropriately jarring for 2020—I’m assaulted hourly by mile long strings of oil tank cars, screeching with their heavy petrochemcial burden, propelled by four locomotives running at full-throated full throttle. The fossil fuel industry, wrecking my sleep, is also helping to wreck the other reason to come out here. Global warming, the blanketing of the Earth with carbon dioxide released when fossil fuels are burned, is putting enormous stress on these dry lands and their inhabitants, the most immediate climate-related threat being fire. This ecosystem, just like the forests of Western Washington and Oregon, is adapted to periodic burns. The changing climate, however, with its longer, hotter fire season, causes conditions favoring megafires, like the ones in September 2020 that torched 800-thousand acres of the dryland ecosystem, known as shrub steppe, in Washington. The lands spanning the vast gap between the Cascades and the Rockies are anything but barren. Our shrub steppe here in the
Pacific Northwest is one of the great unsung ecosystems of the world. Many west-siders, used to the bio-diverse splendors of our temperate rainforests, might be surprised to learn how rich our dry-side ecosystem is. In many ways, the sage lands are an analog to the forest. It’s all there, just on a smaller, wider scale: canopies of big sage, understories of grasses and flowers, and a ground cover of lichen and cryptogramic crust all mimic the biomes of the great forests in wetter climes. It’s a bird watcher’s paradise: bald eagles, golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, gyre falcons in the winter, sandhill cranes and trumpeter swans in the fall, peregrine falcons, prairie falcons, ferruginous hawks, sage-grouse, sharp tailed grouse, burrowing owls, and on and on. One of the best times to visit is May, when a chorus of night birds call from groves of cottonwood and Russian olive along the rivers. A census of the animal community would include big game like deer, elk, pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, and even the occasional moose. Coyotes, cougar, lynx, bobcat, black bear are there too, and historically wolves and even grizzly bears found their way out onto the shrub steppe. Badgers, whitetail jackrabbits, black tail jackrabbits, pygmy rabbits, Washington ground squirrels, a host of amphibians and reptiles, many
Above: Lower Umtanum Canyon. before and after September, 2020. Photo: Darrin Gunkel
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endemic, all thrive in the shrub steppe. Or the parts that remain undisturbed, undeveloped, unburnt. I’m out here enduring the November chill to witness the devastation of the 2020 fires, particularly in areas filmmaker Ted Grudowski and I documented earlier in the year for a short movie about the shrub steppe. We spent spring and summer battling the logistics of making a film during a pandemic, managing to make it work—social distancing is almost the default, wandering these huge open spaces. Still, delays meant the two month project dragged on for six. We were nearing the finish line in September, when much of the land we’d filmed burned. The Evans Creek fire burned 75 thousand acres in the LT Murray Wildlife Area, which ecompasses the cliffs, side canyons like Umtanum, and high ridges west of the Yakima River between Ellensburg and Yakima. In the spring, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist Scott Downes, guided me and Ted through the canyon. We meet him this morning on a post-fire survey up Umtanum Creek, a tributary of the Yakima. The creek runs in a near-straight line away from the river, through an old homestead long lost but for twisted apple trees planted a century ago. It’s a fantastic hike, one I’ve returned to again and again over the years: here in the sage lands, views begin the moment you set foot on the trail. The way passes through meadows, groves of aspen, and beaver ponds. It’s mobbed with wildflowers in the spring. Draws lead up from Umtanum’s depths to a plateau where bighorn sheep range, and eventually to the heights of Umtanum Ridge, with views from Mt Adams to the Stuart Range. The spring flower show features some of the finer lupine, balsamroot, and flox displays I’ve seen. But my favorite has always been the stands of ancient, twisted sage bushes, some having endured a hundred summers of triple digit heat. Part of me doesn’t want to see the fire’s aftermath. Strangely, the devastation is patchy. One of the ancient sage stands used to greet you at the beginning of the trail. It’s gone now, nothing more than a field of black ash, this morning frost-rimed and glittering in the low sun, the skeleton of a burnt
ponderosa pine presiding. A grove of Russian olive trees just beyond the former sage stand is largely unscathed. Some meadows are untouched by fire, and in some places, just the sage and rabbitbrush burned. The first big aspen grove has been spared, the brush at its feet reduced to ash and its understory completely cleared, but the trees appear unharmed. The big grove two miles up the creek was not so lucky, reduced to a thicket of charred trunks rising from seared earth. The beaver pond a half mile up the creek, and the thicket around it, untouched. So are the old apple trees, still producing tart heirloom fruit. It’s strange to see how capricious wildfire can be. Scott is actually pleased, “This could have been a lot worse.” He believes the creek bottom here is intact enough that Fish and Wildlife can focus its limited restoration resources elsewhere. I venture some optimism about the overall effects of the fires. He says, “Well. Are you going up to the plateau [above the creek]? It’s a different story up there.” He grimaces when we mention we’ll soon head to our other main filming location, Spiva Butte in Douglas County. “Be prepared, probably by having a stiff drink ready.” We leave Scott by the creek and head up to the plateau. The devastation looks complete. The sage forest at the foot of Umtanum Ridge used to seem endless: now it’s all gone, reduced to stick figures on a grey plain. The ridge, once a grey-green wall rising six hundred feet, is now black, streaked with an early snow, under a lowering autumn sky. Neither of us feel inspired to make a cold depressing climb to the top, so we explore what used to be prime bighorn sheep habitat. The views are still long and dramatic, but the mood of the place is all wrong. It’s not entirely grim. Looking closer at the ground, we notice root tufts of many grasses and sedges remain. This is a good sign. As with crown fires in forests, which kill trees, the hottest and worst fires on the steppe burn everything down to mineral soil, and recovery becomes a much longer, much trickier process. That organic matter survived up here means the sage forest may be gone, perhaps for good, but wildflowers and grasses will be back
continued on next page
Spiva Butte before and after the fire. Photo: Ferdi Businger
JULY & AUGUST 2021 37
Fire, continued from previous page.
Ancient Sage in Umtanum Canyon before and after the fire. Photo: Darrin Gunkel
come spring. All the shrubs burned, but some patches of grass look barely touched. Already, scant autumn rain has coaxed new green shoots out of the ash. We capture film and images of the aftermath, and head back to camp. I realize this place may be vastly changed, but it is not lost. The next day, my optimism is dealt a blow. Douglas County lies in the great bend where the westbound Columbia River makes a left turn to head south towards Oregon. This is the heart of the Channeled Scablands, too difficult and marginal for wholesale conversion to agriculture like much of the steppe further south. So it’s home to some of the best remaining shrub steppe habitat in Washington. The area is critical for several species hanging on by a thread. Ninety percent of Washington’s sage grouse live in Douglas county. Or lived. The Pearl Hill Fire, at 225 thousand acres one of the largest in Washington’s history, ripped across Douglas County with such ferocity that, at its peak, it burned 10,000 acres per hour. Biologists still don’t know the extent to which sage grouse suffered, but initial estimates are grim: maybe half of the resident birds perished. Important sage grouse leks, sites where male birds put on their famous courtship display, now lay under ash. What’s more, a critical part of the birds’ diet, sage, went up in smoke. Washington’s sage grouse were listed as a threatened species in 1998, and much energy has gone into their recovery. It’s likely 20-years of conservation effort have been erased, and Washington’s sage grouse will be relisted, now as endangered. Attempts to re-introduce endangered pygmy rabbits were also set back. Last spring, Ted and I shot video at one of their recovery sites. We recorded the exuberant release of young rabbits into their new home. Fire swept that site clean. Stories of firefighters reaching into burrows to save rabbits are hopeful, but it’s doubtful any we saw released that day survived. 38 MAZAMAS
We arrive at Spiva Butte Nature Preserve in the heart of Douglas County at the last light of day. Through unbelievable luck, our base camp during last spring’s filming, the two tiny cabins at the center of the preserve, and the propane tank next to them, escaped the fire. A cold fog settles in as the day fades, and exploring is bone chilling. We don’t brave the cold for long, since there’s little left to see. The handful of low buttes, once covered in sage, rabbit brush, and a thick understory of grass and wildflowers, are now a moonscape. The northern harrier hawk that patrolled the compound is nowhere to be seen. The pair of kestrels that scolded us last spring have moved on. I’m left to wonder the fate of the deer, coyotes, and porcupine we spotted before. Did they escape or succumb to the smoke and flames? We find no green shoots, barely any charred sage skeletons like at Umtanum; just sand and blowing ash in a cold wind. Scott was right, I do need a drink. And to go home. I’ve seen enough. It’s a long drive back to Portland, through the dense fog that can socks in the Columbia basin in the winter. Most of the way, the fire-changed landscapes are out of sight. What I see from the highway has been changed too, in a more permanent way, by development. About 10 percent of Washington’s original shrub steppe remains, according to the Washington Native Plant Society. That means endangered grouse and rabbits, or bighorn sheep, pronghorn, and all the other life forms depending on the health of this ecosystem, don’t have many places to escape when disasters strike. Oregon’s steppe has fared better, but it’s just as fragile, and just as prone to giant, devastating fires. This land is not a desert, and it’s just as much a part of the character, the ecological fabric, of the Pacific Northwest as the mountains, coast, and great forests. It’s up to us to care for it the same way.
2020 HIKE LEADER APPRECIATION NIGHT by David Rempel
O
n Thursday, June 3, Mazamas hike leaders gathered for their annual Hike Leader Appreciation Night (HLAN). As with so many “gatherings” this past year, it was a Zoom virtual gathering. Gone this year were the familiar hike-themed table trimmings, finger foods, tantalizing door prizes, and handshakes between old friends, and yet the spirit was alive and well.
The meeting began with greetings from Acting Executive Director Sarah Bradham, followed by Trail Trips Committee Chair David Rempel. In a nutshell, they spoke of the past 15-months we have all endured limited hiking and skill-building opportunities, and yet we have found innovative ways to carry on. The conversation then turned to current and near future activities, including launching Mazamas 2021 Wild Camp this month; and an ongoing exploratory conversation regarding a possible fall Mazamas Mt. Hood Rendezvous (perhaps a weekend of hikes, skill builders, etc.). In essence, as we embark on summer there is a renewed energy and optimism in Mazamas that we are finally starting on the winding path back to normal. They concluded with heartfelt thanks to all the hike leaders and to Kelsey Shaw, our Trail Trips Committee support, who is trading us in for law school at Lewis & Clark, where she plans to concentrate on environmental law. Guest speakers, for the event were Tim Schenk, USFS Willamette & Deschutes NF Permit Administrator (Bend, OR), and Matt Peterson (Sweet Home, OR), Willamette NF Program Manager. They spoke extensively on trail use in Oregon’s midCascades, specific to the new permit program introduced this year to better manage and preserve the wilderness nature of the three wilderness areas. The permit system was developed over a 4–5year period with a goal of smoothing out daily use to manageable averages. Trail use numbers were studied, finding a dramatic increase in use over the last couple of decades, and that trail use numbers on popular trails typically show great spikes on weekends which in turn directly correlate to increased and unacceptable levels of trash left behind, pollution in the water eco-system, native plant destruction, and erosion (particularly along trails and high use camp sites). After the award presentations, the evening concluded with three rounds of Zoom small group discussions, guided by a question for each session. The responses were wide ranging and intended to provide a great opportunity for fellowship and for hike leaders to exchange experiences and insights. Special thanks to the Trail Trips Committee members, especially Rex and Marilyn; and to Kelsey Shaw for helping to make this night a success.
AWARD WINNERS
HARDESTY CUP Bob Breivogel
HIKE LEADS (# HIKES)
Terry Sherbeck (600) Lisa Ripps (300) Marilyn Zigler (200) Leslie Shotola (200) Jennifer Trask (200) Bob Breivogel (200) Steve Benson (150) Richard Sandefur (150) Rick Craycraft (125)
Rex Breunsbach (600) Matt Reeder (125) Gretchen Guyot (75) Tom Jones (50) Bertie August (50) Jeff Benson (25) Don McCoy (25) Paul Haines (25) Sandor Lau (25)
JULY & AUGUST 2021 39
BOOK REVIEWS DISCOVERING PORTLAND PARKS: A LOCAL’S GUIDE OWEN WOZNIAK
by Brian Goldman
P
ortland resident and Mazama Owen Wozniak has just recently published a guidebook by Mountaineers Books, Discovering Portland Parks: A Local’s Guide.
The author selected over 100 of the 500+ parks in the region, from popular (Council Crest; Kelly Point; Sellwood) to many lesser known (Joseph Wood Hill in NE Portland; John Luby in East Portland; Frenchman’s Bar Regional Park in Clark County). You can use this guide to explore different corners of the region, from Hillsboro to Wilsonville to Gresham and across the Columbia to Vancouver, Washington and Clark County. Published in June 2021 during the pandemic, the author hopes there is renewed interest in local parks, given their necessity during these stay-at-home times. The guidebook includes a succinct history of the development of parks in the United States, and, in particular, Portland parks, beginning with the guidance of the Olmsted brothers, sons of famed Central Park designer Frederick Law Olmsted and, later, Emanuel Mische, who designed and administered parks such as Laurelhurst, Mt. Tabor, and the rose gardens at Peninsula Park and Ladd Circle. Although the glossy pages are filled with superb color photographs of most of the listed parks, the book will not collect dust on a coffee table. The clarity and easy-to-use, color-coded approach inspires usage. Each listed park includes a description, location, acreage, amenities, jurisdiction, transportation access, and history. Icons indicate whether the park is dog-friendly, contains formal gardens, has barbecue grills, public art, and whether it is wheelchair accessible. The narration is smooth, witty and informational. Even longtime Portland residents will be surprised by the number of parks within several miles of their homes that they may never have visited. When asked how he selected the parks for this guidebook, the author responded, “I decided to focus on parks I felt were representative of different experiences, e.g., a neighborhood park, a West Hills forested natural area, a flashy “destination” park, etc. While I tried to include all the parks I felt were “must see” (like Mount Tabor or Vancouver’s excellent new downtown waterfront park), I also made plenty of arbitrary choices. As I noted in the introduction, I wanted to spotlight lesser-known places, especially those with interesting historical and cultural dimensions. I also wanted to emphasize natural areas. To me, these places are worth crossing town to visit. The hardest part was picking from among the many great mid-sized parks … at the end of the day, it was arbitrary and driven to no small extent by my personal connection to these places.”
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The author encourages buyers to purchase directly from the publisher: mountaineers.org/books/books/discovering-portlandparks-a-locals-guide. It is also available in the Mazama Library. Wozniak, O. Discovering Portland Parks: A Local’s Guide. Seattle, Washington: Mountaineers Books, 2021. Mazama Library number 917.95 W91
TAHOMA AND ITS PEOPLE JEFF ANTONELIS-LAPP
by Ken DuBois
F
orty-eight million years of geological history is condensed into a couple dozen pages in Jeff Antonelis-Lapp’s fast-paced and highly engaging chronicle Tahoma and Its People, a comprehensive examination of Washington’s prominent peak from its days as a bump on the horizon to its 14,411-foot majesty today. And that’s just the story’s foundation, so to speak. In subsequent chapters he details the latest evidence of early human activity in the area, and takes us on a 360-degree tour around the mountain, from the Nisqually River to the dry east side. He provides multiple views as well on current-day conservation issues, scientific debate, Native legends, and even the mountain’s name, which many tribal people have labelled with some variation of Tahoma.
Layer upon layer of rock, ash, and ice give evidence of the literally earth-shaping activity over millennia – so massive in scale that to describe it requires phrases like, “Puget Lobe of the Vashon Stade of the Fraser Glaciation of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet.” For the lay reader, fortunately, Antonelis-Lapp has talent for putting into perspective what might otherwise be a mind-boggling series of cataclysmic events. He does this, in part, by zipping through the early events (40 million years ago: the first of the Cascades volcanoes comes to life); slowing down the narrative for more recent milestones (500,000-years ago: large, mountain-building lava flows); and lingering over relatively recent events (500 years ago: creation of the Electron Mudflow and National Lahar). Eventually, humans began to have an impact, too; the abundant resources of Mt. Rainier have been a draw for at least 7,700-years, and perhaps much longer, Antonelis-Lapp notes. And much of his knowledge on this subject was gained first-hand, as he has often worked side-by-side with park archaeologists, intimately involved in the excavation process. In the author’s account, the evidence he helps to uncover tells a remarkably relatable story: ancient humans visited and camped in the alpine meadows during the warmer months, drawn to the seasonal plants, and then returned to their villages below when the weather turned cold; they sat around campfires adjusting tools and gear for the following day; and some even cooked on a griddle—a large flat stone that could be heated from beneath. And they knew a “good spot” when they saw one: one camping shelter, Antonelis-Lapp notes, was in continual use for thousands of years. Most of those who are presented as irredeemable bad guys in Antonelis-Lapp’s account are long gone, such as European
American explorers of the 1700s who introduced diseases to native people, and 19th century homesteaders who rerouted water sources to devasting effect. But he invites us to dig deeper when considering the motivations of modern day parties with seemingly anti-conservation agendas. For example, the military operation Joint Base Lewis-McChord, which occupies almost 11,000 acres in the lower Nisqually watershed, may seem a likely villain in the conservation story; the military selected its location because open meadows are ideal for practicing aerial assault. But leaders at the fort have also partnered in recent years with The Nature Conservancy to preserve habitat and at-risk species. It’s possible, Antonelis-Lapp says, to appreciate both butterflies and bombs. A faculty member at The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Antonelis-Lapp has spent decades exploring Mt. Rainier and sharing his knowledge with students, and he has used his skill as an educator to create a book that is accessible for anyone with even a passing interest in geology, anthropology, or plant and animal species. It’s an excellent primer on the modern art of negotiation, as well, with many stories about parties with conflicting interests working together to find compromise that respects the mountain’s resources as well as one another. Antonelis-Lapp has a point of view, but a professorial approach; here are the facts, he tells us—you can come to your own conclusions. Antonelis-Lapp, J. Tahoma and Its People: A Natural History of Mount Rainer National Park. Pullman, Washington: Washington State University Press, 2020. Mazama Library number 917.97A8 JULY & AUGUST 2021 41
SUCCESSFUL CLIMBERS Thank you to our climb leaders for taking on the challenge of leading climbs during the COVID-19 pandemic, and getting folks out into the mountains for some much needed fun!
May 5–Mt. St. Helens, Swift Creek-Worm Flows. Bob Breivogel, Leader. Chris Hamilton, Assistant. Alyssa Hervert, Anupama Kurpad, Reuel Kurzet, Macrina Lesniak, Brendan Scanlan, Sandra Volk. May 5–Mt. Hood (Wy’east), South Side. Duncan A Hart, Leader. Joe Eberhardt, Assistant. Shawn Kennedy, Forest Brook Menke-Thielman. May 12–Mt. Hood (Wy’east), South Side. Tim Scott, Leader. Michael Valentine, Assistant. Sandeep Chippada, Choon CH Leong, Kerry Loehr, Tejas Prakash, Astrid Zervas. May 13–Mt. Hood (Wy’east), South Side. Rico Micallef, Leader. Ian McCluskey, Assistant. Andrew Behr, Ian Beil, Olivia Burgese, Jesse Cornett, Erin Courtney, Michael Frank, Amber Hibberd, Tiffany Lyn McClean, Terry Sayre, Angela Schaefer.
May 30–Mt. Hood (Wy’east), South Side. Guy Wettstein, Leader. Gavin Boggs, Assistant. Brad Dewey, Leo Filippini, Kristina Prosser, Christin Ritscher, Kevin Ritscher, Justin Thibeault. May 31–Mt. Shasta, Clear Creek. Long Ong, Leader. Ryan Reed, Assistant. Darren Ferris, Lacey Jones, Prajwal Mohan, Laetitia Ma. Pascal, Kirk Rohrig, Rob Sinnott. May 31–Mt. Hood (Wy’east), South Side. Greg Scott, Leader. Michael Valentine, Assistant. Peter Boag, Sarah Marie Geoghan, Dani Larson, Kevin Marold, Stacey Reding, Storm Siegel. June 1–Mt. Hood (Wy’east), South Side. Jesse Applegate, Leader. Jeremiah Biddle, Assistant. Kyle Brown, Benjamin Buckingham, Nicholas Krohe, Jen Travers.
May 16–Mt. Rainier, Disappointment Cleaver. Long Ong, Leader. Kirk Rohrig, Assistant. Anna Dearman, James Robert Dearman, Benjamin Goff, Michael Moy, Laetitia Ma. Pascal, Mark Stave.
June 4–Mt. Hood (Wy’east), South Side. Rico Micallef, Leader. Forest Brook Menke-Thielman, Assistant. Cecilia Maria Dominguez, George Fussell, Jeremy Galarneaux, Priyanka Kedalagudde, Vlad Lobanov, Melanie Means, Eric Miranda, Dolores Rincon, Laura Selvey, Jenni Tan.
May 16–Mt. Ellinor, SE Chute. Melinda Hugo, Leader. Robin A Wilcox, Assistant. Dahnya Albertson, Heather Johnston, Forest Brook Menke-Thielman, Tracie Weitzman.
June 4–Unicorn Peak, Snow Lake. Greg Scott, Leader. Toby Contreras, Assistant. Suvi Chisholm, Benjamin Goff, Tim Scott, Storm Siegel, Anisha Thomas, Lynsey Tyler, Adriana Vintila.
May 21–Mt. Hubris (The Ogre), Cosmic Wall. Kerry C Loehr, Leader. Kristen Jackson and Darren Ferris, Assistant. Peter B Allen, Anthony Carr, Alex J Lockard, Courtney Rust, Alexander Vasarab
June 12–Pinnacle Peak, East Ridge. John Meckel, Leader. Elizabeth Cole, Assistant. David Feng, Matt Gardner, Alyssa Hervert, Ben Hoselton, Robin Kapela, Olivier Turgeon.
May 22–Unicorn Peak, Snow Lake. John Sterbis, Leader. Debbie Dwelle, Assistant. Kirk Newgard, Atalanta Powell, Kristina Prosser, Christin Ritscher, Kevin Ritscher, Gordon Wilde May 23–Mt. Ellinor, SE Chute. Christine Troy, Leader. Marc Milobinski, Assistant. Thomas Clarke, Kyle Stephen DeHart, David Feng, Anibal Rocheta, Terry Sayre, Tom Shi, Kristofel Simbajon, Kyla Skerry, Sandra Volk. May 26–Mt. Hood (Wy’east), South Side. Jesse M. Applegate, Leader. None, Assistant. Matthew Baker, Brett Halloran, Kristi Kose, Karra Suzanne Russell, Kyla Skerry. May 29–Strawberry Mountain, NE Ridge. Bill Stein, Leader. Jan-Erik Fougli, Assistant. Cory Adamski, Judith Baker, Tom Bode, Benjamin Goff, Melanie Means, Yuko Ohnuma-Oyler May 30–Unicorn Peak, Snow Lake. Kerry C Loehr, Leader. Courtney Rust, Assistant. Eloise Bacher, Emily Carpenter, Thomas Clarke, Dan Florence, Kevin Kohberger, Ian W McCluskey, Katie Polanshek, Evan C Smith. May 30–Mt. Thielsen, West Ridge/Standard Route. Thomas M. Miller, Leader. Milton Diaz, Assistant. Verna Burden, Ann marie Caplan, Ariel Himmelstern, Ben Hoselton, Anupama Kurpad, Rosemary Prescott, Becky Sias, Christine Troy, Patricia Troy, Melissa Vidal. May 30–Mt. Ellinor, SE Chute. Lynne Pedersen, Leader. Carol Bryan, Assistant. Choon Leong, Leslie Shotola, Adonay Solleiro, Larence Welsh. 42 MAZAMAS
June 16–Unicorn Peak, Snow Lake. Marty Scott, Leader. Shirley Welch, Assistant. Michael E Dahlin, David Level, Whitney Lindahl, Greg Long, Gary Riggs, Dana Terhune. June 17–Mt. Hood (Wy’east), South Side. Tim Scott, Leader. Gavin Boggs, Assistant. Eloise Bacher, Sohaib Haider, Gordon Wilde. June 17–Unicorn Peak, Snow Lake. Guy Wettstein, Leader. Petra LeBaron Botts, Assistant. Brad Dewey, Ariel Himmelstern, Derek Jahelka, Aaron Kaufman, Melissa Vidal, Jordan Zandi. June 18–Unicorn Peak, Snow Lake. Gary Bishop, Assistant. Jon House, Assistant. Bartholomew Martin, Jules Williams, Mark Wilson. June 19–The Tooth, South Face. Kerry Loehr, Leader. Kristen Jackson, Assistant. Mark Bauer, Heather Johnson, Lily Lu. Xu, Brendan Scanlan June 19–Mt. Thielsen, West Ridge. Guy Wettstein, Leader. Marsha Fick, Assistant. Marissa Burke, Abraham Cissna, Elizabeth Cole, Christin Ritscher, Kevin Ritscher, Kristofel Simbajon, Evan Smith, Adonay Solleiro. June 20–Mt. Bailey, Standard Route. Guy Wettstein, Leader. Marsha Fick, Assistant. Marissa Burke, Abraham Cissna, Elizabeth Cole, Christin Ritscher, Kevin Ritscher, Kristofel Simbajon, Evan Smith, Adonay Solleiro. June 22–Unicorn Peak, Snow Lake. Ryan Johnson, Leader. Kerry Loehr, Assistant. Lisa Hefel, Alexander Macdonald, Melanie Marechal, Del Profit, Kyla Skerry, Alex Wiley, Leah Wiley.
EXECUTIVE BOARD MINUTES (Executive Council) APRIL 20, 2021 by Amanda Ryan-Fear, Secretary ATTENDING (ZOOM): Joe Eberhardt, President; Aimee Filimoehala, Vice President; Rick Amodeo, Treasurer; Amanda Ryan-Fear, Secretary; Jesse Applegate, Reena Clements, Lori Coyner, Judith Baker, Bob Breivogel, Staff: Sarah Bradham, Active Executive Director; Kelsey Shaw, Member Services Admin; Mathew Brock, Mazama Library & Historical Collections Manager WELCOME & CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 4:02 p.m. by President Joe Eberhardt. ■ Joe noted a quorum was present. Joe began by noting that the executive session was going to be split into two parts, the first to be taken at the beginning of the meeting and the second at the end. Joe adjourned the public portion of the meeting at 4:05 p.m. so the recording secretary and staff presenter left the meeting. ■ Recording secretary was called back to the meeting at 4:58 p.m. and the public session resumed. REVIEW & APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES Amanda Ryan-Fear asked for approval of the minutes from the March meeting and made a motion to accept the minutes as written. Rick Amodeo seconded the motion. Minutes were approved as written. MEMBERSHIP REPORT Membership Report: Secretary Amanda Ryan-Fear gave the membership report, see page five. Additional infomation: ■ Sarah Bradham, Acting Executive Director, explained usual membership trends to compare against year over year differences. ■ BCEP operated at a smaller capacity for students and with fewer assistants, and climb season had more of a soft opening with fewer opportunities. TREASURER’S REPORT: Treasurer Rick Amodeo gave the treasurer’s report, incorporated herein for reference. Items noted beyond the written summary are as follows: ■ The Finance Committee is meeting regularly.
■ The forgiveness for PPP Round 1 funding has been submitted and educationrelated revenue is looking good. ■ Have avoided withdrawing from investments and investment funds are growing slowly. ■ $1.13 million as of statement on 3/31/2021 ■ We are halfway through the fiscal year. Revenue is down, but as are expenses, so overall the net assets are increasing (~6 percent). ■ Rick recommends running popular Lodge events, e.g. Round the Mountain, and rental events, e.g. group rentals, so as to receive that revenue. ■ Plan is in progress to research new bookkeeping options to streamline processes; reaching out to the auditor for recommendation for bookkeepers with nonprofit experience. ACTING ED REPORT ■ Lodge Committee has decided to slow soft opening because they are uncomfortable with reliance on volunteer caretakers for paid customers. □ RTM is doable with Lodge in its current state, however the western portion of the Timberline Trail is closed indefinitely due to damage sustained during the Labor Day 2020 windstorm. Concerns remain regarding shuttle transportation and food for participants. □ Trail Trips Committee working on alternatives and/or solutions. □ Process of creating an Operations Plan for Lodge is well underway and has been recently aided with discovery of a Lodge Task Force report from 1998 within the Mazama archives. □ Committee and E.D. are in the process of crafting a short-term contract (approx. 6 months) for a caretaker. Possible caretaker in mind who has extensive hospitality experience. □ Rick Amodeo agreed to continue as Lodge point person. ■ COVID vaccines are increasingly administered across the region. Based on Sarah’s research, as a private organization, nothing prevents the Mazamas from requiring vaccination for participation. However, we should
proceed with caution when receiving actual copies of people’s vaccine cards (medical record). □ Sarah suggested a vaccine badge system based on an honor system (ask type and dates but won’t require documentation). □ Bob Breivogel likes the badge idea but asks if leaders will be required to be vaccinated. □ Aimee Filimoehala voiced concerns about the honor system and suggested a hybrid system: honor system for badge but participants bring vaccine cards to trailhead/meeting location for leader to verify. □ Bob suggested participants come to office for vaccine card verification. Multiple meeting attendees pointed out this was prohibitive of people’s ability to come into the office. □ Sarah requested E.C. member participation in the vaccine badge planning process. Lori Coyner volunteered to help. ■ National Volunteer Week (April 18–24) □ Daily communications planned on social media. □ Sarah hand wrote and sent 150+ cards to volunteers who have volunteered within the last three months. □ Sarah plans to continue mailing cards monthly. ■ E.C. Portal Updates □ Committee Rosters have been added to the portal. Rosters will be updated weekly via Salesforce. Report includes known FY22 plans. BYLAWS CHANGE UPDATE ■ Special election delayed to combine with regular election in Fall 2021 based on feedback received via email and social media. Feedback was that members felt unprepared for the vote and did not understand why it was a special election among other details about the proposals. ■ Informational Town Hall has been rescheduled for May 25 with the goal of answering: What are the bylaws? What changes are being proposed? Why? ■ May/June Bulletin will include process and timeline updates. Said updates are also included in each week’s eNews, the JULY & AUGUST 2021 43
EXECUTIVE BOARD MINUTES (Executive Council) Mazama social media pages, and on the Mazama website. ■ Voter Guide will include comparisons of existing and proposed bylaws to highlight differences. To be released in August. ■ The Bylaws team is working to create videos explaining the Mazama voting process and the specific proposals. ■ Judith noted that she is working on an annotated version of the bylaw changes as opposed to a redlined version, which due to the reordering of certain sections is difficult to follow. ■ Questions from committee: □ Joe–how are people communicating their feelings and thoughts? □ Aimee–the Mazama Member Forum on Facebook and via email to bylaws@ mazamas.org □ Rick–where does this information live on the Mazama website? He thinks it should be front and center □ Sarah–currently listed in menu under Membership and Resources header, but it can be added to the slider/gallery menu □ Joe asked that adding the bylaws to the homepage be done soon. DEI UPDATE ■ Last month, the staff, in coordination with the Melanated Mazamas and the E.C., crafted and released a statement in support of our Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community. □ Received generally positive or neutral feedback. The small minority with negative feedback were quite vocal with their thoughts. ■ Sarah encouraged E.C. members to look at the AAC’s recent social media comms. The AAC recently announced their Climb United team that is tasked with the AAC’s justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion work, beginning with route names. The AAC received a lot of negative feedback on Facebook, to the point of deleted comments that referenced violence against other users. Sarah reached out to former Mazama E.D. Mitsu Iwasaki who is the current CEO of the AAC and shared that, in contrast to their Facebook, they received 44 MAZAMAS
a lot of positive feedback directly via email, private messages, and phone. ■ The Mazama DEI Committee needs direction from the E.C. including, but not limited to: a charter, benchmarks, tasks, short-term goals, and long-term goals. □ Committee members want to do work but don’t know their role or scope. □ Reena (member of DEI Committee): committee was focused entirely on creating the Equity Statement, and since then there have been several attempts to bring the committee together during COVID but there has been little to no follow through. □ Aimee noted that some individual committees have their own DEI-related goals and practices, but there is no overarching policy. Also noted that committees want guidance on this work. □ Sarah suggests that after the charter is crafted and confirmed, the committee’s first project can be collecting all committee-specific DEI work into one location. Sarah emphasized that the E.C. needs to help create the structure for the committee. □ Amanda Ryan-Fear and Jesse Applegate volunteered to provide direction and draft the charter. □ Joe asked that Sarah share existing roles and responsibilities document, so Amanda and Jesse can see an example. Sarah will share the completed roles and responsibilities doc of another committee. POLICY AND PROCEDURES Mathew Brock began this discussion to give context to the concerns around existing policies and procedures. ■ Problem: ongoing confusion around old and/or outdated documents; need to streamline process/collection after the collapse of the Governing Docs Committee. ■ Solution: twofold approach moving forward □ In Google Drive → delete all current copies of P&P documents; create restricted folder of master P&P docs; replace deleted copies with shortcuts to master docs
□ In Salesforce → integrate P&P documents into SF for better tracking, reporting, and updating ■ Can eventually create dashboard for quick review ■ Sarah outlined next steps of the P&P project: □ Create new object in Salesforce to capture the data □ Define “public” vs. “private” in relation to P&P □ Staff will create a Records Team/ Committee with a defined set of responsibilities □ Schedule regular review process □ Critical step: remove duplicates & outdated copies from Drive □ Sarah will write up roles and responsibilities document for this team. Mathew will oversee this team. ■ Judith: Is there a closely aligned staff person? Staff would need to take on a more directional role. □ Sarah: Staff person in LHC Manager role would work closely with Records Team ■ Bob: Recommended checking in John Rettig (past Council secretary and Governing Docs chair). Bob stated his willingness to be E.C. point person. ■ Sarah: Has been working with John Rettig since the outset of this project. ■ Joe: As we move to compounding pages of P&P documentation, is there a staff person who will oversee this area of work? □ Sarah: E.D. and Archives manager ■ Bob: Need to ID “owners” of each P&P and those owners should be responsible □ Judith: Best practice for a nonprofit would be that the board is owner of all P&P and staff provides institutional knowledge and consistency. □ Bob: But, committees should own P&P because they know it best □ Sarah: Board needs to own P&P (esp. policy) because of potential liability ramifications, but committees should provide oversight and be content experts ■ Next steps: Sarah will write up the outline of project/role. She will reach out to Bob for involvement and to Judith for language.
MEMBER COMMENT PERIOD ■ No members attended to submit comments. DOCUMENT RETENTION ■ Mathew Brock presented to the E.C. on the importance of accurate and consistent documentation retention procedures to the organization. His presentation is incorporated herein for reference. Items noted beyond the written summary are as follows: □ Turnover is high among board members, committee chairs, and staff so retention is critical to progress of organization. This is especially important for restricted files. ■ Rick informed Mathew of the existence of several boxes of paper records that are stored at the Mazama Lodge. Mathew will arrange a time to pick up these records. ■ Bob asked if there was a plan to index the paper records of the Mazamas. □ Mathew explained differences between indexing and cataloging. The Mazama archives are cataloged down to the series level. □ Bob: Are catalogs searchable? □ Mathew: Yes and can be searched online through the website since 2017. ■ Joe asked Mathew for more details on recent requests of restricted records. □ Mathew: Requests were placed by a researcher looking for more details on a past climbing incident and a family member of a restricted record subject. Researcher was informed of the restriction and turned down. The family member was given an executive summary of the incident report to their satisfaction. ■ Sarah noted that the E.C. and staff need to review what is confidential and/or restricted. “Lessons learned” reports do no good when locked in the vault. Additionally, the definition of “restricted” varies and there is generally no identified “owner” of original records to clarify time-based restrictions. □ Mathew has begun drafting restricted records policies in the absence of said policies. ■ Joe: time-based release with redacted identifying info?
□ Mathew confirmed that is the plan but posited, “What is ‘enough’ time?” Has arbitrarily set it as 30-years to begin. Added, there are a lot of things that need to be documented because we don’t know the extent of the “closed collection.” ■ Lori: 30-years may be too long because climbing methods and gear change within that time frame. □ Mathew: Good point. Example being “The Ian Wade Report” ■ Sarah: Who has the authority to restrict records? For how long? Why? When can they be opened? Who does authorized access pass to if the original record recipient is no longer in a relevant role? ■ Sarah proposed creating an index of names in the vault to be shared with the President and E.D. for reference. □ Joe supports this idea and added the idea of “tags” within index so reports can be searched by keywords. Joe Eberhardt adjourned the meeting at 6:12 p.m.
MAY 18, 2021 by Amanda Ryan-Fear, Secretary ATTENDING (ZOOM): Joe Eberhardt, President; Aimee Filimoehala, Vice President; Rick Amodeo, Treasurer; Amanda Ryan-Fear, Secretary; Reena Clements, Judith Baker, Bob Breivogel, Lori Coyner; Sarah Bradham, Acting Executive Director; Kelsey Shaw, Members Services, Admin.; Brook Harris, Lodge Committee Chair. WELCOME & CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 4:05 p.m. by President Joe Eberhardt. REVIEW & APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES ■ Rick Amodeo asked for approval of the minutes from the April meeting and made a motion to accept the minutes as written. Judith Baker seconded the motion. Minutes were approved as written.
MEMBERSHIP REPORT ■ Secretary Amanda Ryan-Fear gave the membership report, incorporated herein for reference. Items noted beyond the written summary are as follows: □ Sarah Bradham, Acting Executive Director, shared an additional report focused on membership retention rates between years. □ Lapse rates over the past 4-years (time using Salesforce database) have remained fairly consistent. ■ Council members engaged in discussion including but not limited to, definition of retention rate, theorized causes for lapsing members and changes in rate year over year, and efforts to improve the retention rate for future years TREASURER’S REPORT Treasurer Rick Amodeo gave the treasurer’s report. Additional info: □ first PPP loan officially forgiven; second anticipated to be forgiven in September 2021 □ The Mazamas has avoided having to withdraw from investment funds due to budgetary diligence of Acting Executive Director Sarah Bradham □ Activities currently breaking even □ Revenue year to date: increases in merch and activities; decrease in membership, Mazama Wild Climb, and Lodge □ Treasurer noted that dropping the glaciated peak requirement will boost revenue of organization through membership dues ■ President noted April’s large budgetary impact due to annual insurance payment ■ Acting Executive Director noted that historically April is a big cash out month because of insurance payment, but also a big cash in month due to old climb card system ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR REPORT Sarah Bradham gave her acting ED report: ■ COVID Policy continues to change and become less strict as state continues to open up and vaccination rates increase ■ Staffing changes imminent Reconfigured job/position descriptions to
JULY & AUGUST 2021 45
EXECUTIVE BOARD MINUTES CONT. (Executive Council) better encompass needs of the org. Position descriptions have been sent to councilmember Lori Coyner for review. Communication of staff departures and job openings begins on May 25, 2021. ■ Recreating the Risk Management Committee □ Critical to success of the organization □ Education and Climbing committees onboard with centralization of risk management process □ So far five members have applied to join the committee □ Council members engaged in discussion including but not limited to, reason for committee’s fold, reasoning for centralization, historic issues with process and plan to avoid them BYLAWS AMENDMENT UPDATE Aimee Filimoehala provided an update to the bylaw amendments proposal, incorporated herein for reference. Items noted beyond the written summary are as follows: ■ Changing presentation of amendments from buckets to individual within each article (see report for full details) □ Goal of changes is to improve transparency and ensure we are abiding by Robert’s Rules ■ A public meeting is scheduled for May 25 to share changes and take questions/ comments from members ■ Bylaws team is working to create information videos covering proposed changes ■ Discussion regarding changes to presentation of amendments was had among present councilmembers; relevant changes were made the report EC POINT PERSON Rick Amodeo asked that the council skip this agenda item until Rick and Bob have the opportunity to discuss project with staff. LODGE UPDATE Lodge Committee Chair, Brook Harris, was present to provide a report on the reopening of the Mazama Lodge. ■ Volunteer taskforce has done an excellent job of positioning Lodge to reopen while also triaging much needed maintenance projects
46 MAZAMAS
■ Ski camps are returning in summer 2021 and have already begun booking for 2022 ■ Collaborating with Trails Club of Oregon on usage of Tyee Lodge to host big groups ■ Brook has been updating the online reservation system to better manage capacity, taking payment before arrival of guests, charging for meals, and managing inventory ■ Several Lodge workdays planned for spring: ■ May 23 - committee clean up day ■ June 5 - kitchen reorganization and clean up to be led by Julia Williams and future Lodge Manager ■ June 12 - community spring work party ■ Ski hill looks good but trail to Lodge needs to be entirely rebuilt and re-lit due to downed trees (>100 on property) ■ In final talks with a solid Lodge Manager with extensive experience in hospitality and management of large projects ■ Councilmembers engaged in discussion including but not limited to, COVID policies, affiliated members/groups (FWOC), and planned capacity DEI UPDATE ■ Acting E.D Sarah Bradham provided an update on the diversity, equity, and inclusion work being done ■ Claire is working to rebuild volunteer committee; first goal is to get interested folks invigorated around creating a mission statement ■ Other proposed work includes: ■ Course and activity acceptance policies ■ Review Policy & Procedure documents with Equity Lens ■ Use Salesforce to add native names to locations (e.g. Wy’East (Mt. Hood)) MOUNTAIN LEAD (LEADERSHIP EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT) AND MEA (MOUNTAIN EDUCATION ALLIANCE) ■ Acting ED Sarah Bradham provided a report on the future of the MEA and Mountain LEAD program, incorporated herein for reference. Items noted beyond the written summary are as follows:
■ Council members engaged in intense discussion on the details and purpose of the MEA programming and how it works within the existing Mazama course ecosystem. ■ Judith asked Sarah what her goal was in presenting information ■ Sarah proposed hiring a contractor to continue Mazama’s engagement in MEA programming after Claire Nelson leaves her role in mid-June. This role will in time be managed by a volunteer committee with staff support ■ Sarah stated that she needs approval for contractor salary because it is outside of approved budgetary expenses. Sarah projected needing $10k or less for 2021 ■ Judith moved to stay engaged with MEA project and for Sarah to hire a contractor with FY21 budget cap of $7,500 ■ Lori seconding this motion ■ All council members voted in favor. Motion passed. ■ Joe recommended the quick creation of volunteer team to plan integration of MEA into Mazama programming and leadership development structure ■ Sarah agreed that this would be a useful group MEMBER COMMENT PERIOD ■ No members attended to submit comments.
Joe Eberhardt adjourned the public portion of the meeting at 5:53 p.m. and sent council members on a 5 minute recess. Recording Secretary Kelsey Shaw left the meeting at 5:55 p.m
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Kristi Kose, Kyla Skerry, Brett Halloran, and Mathew Baker traverse Mt. Hood, May 26, 2021. Photo: Jesse Applegate
