Mount Baker Experience, Spring 2020 by Point Roberts Press

FREE

Special Publication of The Northern Light

ADVENTURES IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

SPRING 2020

PADDLING SAN JUANS R2AK: RACE TO ALASKA WHATCOM WATER TRAIL MAP

18 TH ANNUAL

NORTHWEST BIRDING FESTIVAL Photo: Chuck Kinzer, CKimageart.com

MARCH 20, 21 & 22 2020

• Guided Birding & Geology Tours • Expert Wildlife Speakers • Live Raptor Presentations • Kids’ Activities • Arts & Crafts • Wildlife Exhibits • Photography Workshops • Wildlife Boating Cruises

Photo: Eric Ellingson

Photo: Chuck Kinzer

Photo: Eric Ellingson

Photo: Joe Meche

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Road Closed

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June 13 & 14, 2020 Free day parking! Self-contained Camping Available with Reservations Located just 12 miles East of Bellingham, off the Mt. Baker Highway, on Cedarville Road.

• 31 Events • Professional Acts • World Champion Speed Climbing • Loggers Breakfast Starts @ 6 a.m. • Salmon, Beef & Chicken BBQ

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MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE Special publication of The Northern Light and All Point Bulletin PUBLISHERS Patrick Grubb and Louise Mugar EDITOR Oliver Lazenby

CONTRIBUTORS ANNECLEARY

PUBLICATION DESIGN Doug De Visser COPY EDITOR Aly Siemion

MBE spring 2020

ADVERTISING DESIGN Ruth Lauman • Doug De Visser ADVERTISING SALES Kristin Siemion • Molly Ernst

CONTRIBUTORS IN THIS ISSUE: Anne Cleary, Nick Danielson, Todd Elsworth, David Gladish, Jason Griffith, Elizabeth Kimberly, Eric Lucas, Jason D. Martin, Audra Lee Mercille, Eric Mickelson, Marcus Paladino, Hannah Singleton, Evan Skoczenski, Matthew Tangeman, Luca Williams EMAIL: info@mountbakerexperience.com WEB: www.mountbakerexperience.com FACEBOOK: facebook.com/mtbakerexperience

An always-say-yes attitude and a passion for storytelling through media brought Anne to Bellingham. She has employed filmmaking and photography to document and share adventure.

NICKDANIELSON A designer by trade and photographer by experience, Nick spends his summers trail running and winters splitboarding in the mountains of the Northwest. Nickdanielson.com

TODDELSWORTH As executive director of Recreation Northwest, Todd promotes outdoor recreation and brings community together to enjoy, preserve and improve the places where we play.

TWITTER: twitter.com/MB_Experience INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/mtbakerexp

JASONGRIFFITH

If you can see Mt. Baker, you’re part of the experience. Mount Baker Experience is an outdoor recreation guide for and about the Mt. Baker region, distributed from Seattle to Vancouver, B.C. and published by Point Roberts Press, Inc. Locally owned, the company also publishes The Northern Light, All Point Bulletin, Pacific Coast Weddings, Waterside and area maps. Vol. XXXV, No. 1. Printed in Canada. ©2020 POINT ROBERTS PRESS 225 Marine Drive, Blaine, WA 98230 TEL: 360/332-1777 NEXT ISSUE Summer 2020 • Out late May Ad reservation deadline: April 20 ON THE COVER Avoiding a dip after a climb, Zak Griffith returns to camp in Royal Basin, Olympic National Park. Jason Griffith photo. FREE

ADVENTURES IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

SPRING 2020

Jason is a fisheries biologist who would rather be on a summit than down by the river. When he isn’t fiddling with his camera in the mountains, he lives in Mount Vernon with his wife and two boys.

ELIZABETHKIMBERLY When Elizabeth isn’t conducting research for her master’s project at WWU, you can find her seeking alpine powder turns, winding through forests on a bicycle, or writing in a notebook and drinking kombucha.

ERICLUCAS Lifelong journalist Eric Lucas lives on a small farm on San Juan Island. He is the author of numerous travel guidebooks, and is a regular correspondent for Alaska Airlines Beyond magazine.

Special Publication of The Northern Light

JASONMARTIN

PADDLING SAN JUANS R2AK: RACE TO ALASKA WHATCOM WATER TRAIL MAP

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | SPRING 2020

Jason is the executive director at the American Alpine Institute, a mountain guide and a widely published outdoor writer. He lives in Bellingham with his wife and two kids.

AUDRA LEEMERCILLE Audra Lee Mercille is a Pacific Northwest-based freelance adventurer. She found photography as a way to display her love and gratitude for the mountains and landscapes that inspire her.

ERICMICKELSON Eric is an outdoor photographer and restoration ecologist who is always willing to drop everything for a good adventure outside. He lives in Bellingham with his wife and daughter. ericmickelson.com

MARCUSPALADINO Marcus Paladino is a surf and outdoor photographer living in Tofino, B.C. He strives to have simple descriptions like ‘surf shot’ or ‘nature photo’ fall short. That’s when his work becomes art. Marcuspaladino.com

HANNAHSINGLETON Hannah was born and raised on the East Coast but moved out West after college and never looked back. She loves to share her enthusiasm for her local environment and public lands.

EVANSKOCZENSKI Evan Skoczenski is a lifestyle and landscape photographer born in Bellingham. He spends almost all his time chasing light and the next adventure. Evanskoczenski.com

MATTHEWTANGEMAN Matthew is a Bellingham-based adventure photographer with a passion for deep powder, alpine granite and not making it back to the trailhead until way after dark. Mtangeman.com.

LUCAWILLIAMS Luca is a certified rolfer in Glacier. She helps snowboarders, skiers, and other outdoor enthusiasts to get aligned and out of pain. Website: lucasrolfing.com. Blog: movingwithgravity.wordpress.com MountBakerExperience.com

EDITOR’S NOTE by Oliver Lazenby

hat would you do if you lost your eyesight? I’ve wondered what I would do for fun if I couldn’t see well enough to ride a bike, hike or ski. I figure I’d fill the time with more music, both listening and playing. It wouldn’t be so bad, maybe I’d finally learn to be less bad at guitar. Maybe it’s telling that I never really consider how I’d go about day to day life without vision, I just speculate on how to fill a hypothetical hole left by playing outside. Devon Raney lost 85 percent of his vision at 33, after a surfing accident on the Oregon Coast. Crashing headfirst into the sand triggered a hereditary degenerative vision disorder. Raney, a homebuilder and talented snowboarder and surfer, quickly figured out how to have a life that allowed him to walk his daughter to school, go grocery shopping and run other errands around his home on Bainbridge Island. And rather than receding into a less visual hobby, as I picture doing, he didn’t give up on snowboarding and surfing. In his book, “Still Sideways: Riding the Edge After Losing My Sight,” excerpted on page 36, Raney tells how he found a way to snowboard and even compete in the Legendary Banked Slalom. Perhaps even more impressive, he kept surfing too, paddling into waves using the contrast between the water and the sky, and sometimes with a friend to help time his take offs. Raney found ways to keep having bigger adventures too, like tandem bike-touring from Bainbridge Island to Tijuana and surfing along the way. If you enjoy the excerpt, go get the book. Spring is approaching, and that’s a change better smelt than felt. Earth, aerated by insects in the dirt, moss coming to life – that’s spring’s version of a cold breeze in September. The snow might keep piling up in the mountains, there may still be more darkness than light in a day, and it could still rain every day for a month straight, but longer, warmer days are coming.

36 BOOK EXCERPT: STILL SIDEWAYS Devon Raney preps for the banked slalom after losing his vision

TWIG EARTHGOODS ISLAND TREASURES

RACE TO ALASKA

Nature-inspired useful art

Nautical gnar up the Inside Passage

NEWSROOM News from around the region

QUIZ 10 MOUNTAIN Who tames the Khumbu Icefall?

Paddling the San Juans

AND WELLNESS 35 WEEKEND WARRIOR(ING) 18 HEALTH The links between eyes and spine Is it really possible to find balance?

20 BHUTAN Traveling in the land of the dragon

21 GALLERY Vernal photography

THE STOKE 26 SHARING With a little help from your friends

AND LODGING 32 DINING Staying plump in Cascadia

WATER TRAIL 38 WHATCOM New map to local water access

GUIDE 33 EVENTS Have a fun-filled spring

SNOW SCIENCE 34 CITIZEN Skiers aid snowpack research

GEAR AID

Co. grows through gear care and repair

TEAM JAKE

Ski to Sea celebration of a fallen friend SPRING 2020 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

Newsroom

World paddling film festival The Paddling Film Festival World Tour is coming to Bellingham for the second year in a row, bringing about 25 films to Bellingham Technical College on April 3. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and films start at 7 p.m. The festival, launched in 2006 by Rapid Media, shows films in more than 135 cities around the world every year. Films feature a variety of paddling genres aiming to inspire festivalgoers to get out and explore their local rivers, lakes and oceans. Bellingham-based guide service Moondance Sea Kayak Adventures brought the show to Bellingham last year and is hosting the show again. Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 at the door and available on Moondance’s website: moondancekayak.com.

chicken sandwich and the “Clark Gable Deluxe” burger. In general, the menu is fresher, with more made from scratch, more vegan and gluten free options, and less fried food, Schmidt said. She’s also trying to keep it affordable, with $5 kids meals, burgers and sandwiches from $12-15 and rib eye steak for under $20. Drinks are cheaper than before and after a long struggle with distributors, she’s serving pints of Rainier for $2. Schmidt has made some other changes including more live music. She’s looking to the community for suggestions – “What does the community want for it? This is literally their place,” she said. Graham’s is open noon to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday, and noon to 9 p.m. the rest of the week. For updates, check its Facebook page or grahamshistoricalrestaurant.com.

Glacier Skate Association gets grant for lighting

Graham’s Historical Restaurant Graham’s Historical Restaurant in Glacier opened in December with a new owner and an updated name that seeks to capture the restaurant’s history. Shirley Schmidt, a chef at Graham’s for the past five years, bought the business from longtime owner Gary Graham late last year. Schmidt brought back some things from the establishment’s history, including “rat chucking,” a game in which “children and drunk people” throw rubber rats into buckets for points. For the menu, she took some of the best sellers over the years and made some tweaks. She brought back old menu items including the “Mother Clucker”

The Chuckanut Health Foundation awarded the Glacier Skate Association a grant to pay for a generator, the nonprofit health foundation announced in January. Twice a year, the Chuckanut Health Foundation awards grants to projects that can have an impact on local health issues. Last year, the Glacier Skate Association applied for a $4,500 grant to fund the purchase of a generator that will eventually power lights at the skate park. The Glacier Skate Association is a nonprofit that works to raise money for the Glacier Skate Park. The volunteer-built skate park on a concrete pad in the woods south of downtown Glacier started more than a decade ago with some concrete barriers and bags of concrete mix.

Superfeet partners with New Balance Ferndale-based insole makers Superfeet signed a licensing deal to make insoles for New Balance, the Boston-based running shoe company. The two companies announced the deal in January. New Balance

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | SPRING 2020

Notes big and small from around the region

branded insoles are available in North America and parts of Asia, as well as on the company’s website. Some New Balance stores are also now offering personalized, 3D printed Superfeet insoles. Data for the custom insoles are collected in stores using a robotic fitting machine called a FitStation, and the insoles are printed at Superfeet’s Flowbuilt manufacturing facility in Ferndale.

conditions made it at least as much fun. If the course was different, it wasn’t enough to throw off pro women and pro men winners Audrey Hebert and Seth Westcott, who both snagged first place for the second year in a row at the finals on February 9. Local winners included Che Contreras of Bellingham, first in the Men Masters (3039) and Rosanne Lauderdale of Glacier in Women Mid Grands (45+). Find the full results online at the Mt. Baker Ski Area’s website: mtbaker.us.

Cascadia Women’s Film Festival The Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival is returning to Bellingham for its fourth year, with a selection of films, speakers, panel discussions and more, from April 16-19. Events take place at the Mount Baker Theatre, Pickford Film Center and Western Washington University. The festival is one of only five film festivals in the United States that celebrates films directed by women and it draws female filmmakers from around the planet. This year’s feature film is Iron Jawed Angels, an award-winning HBO movie from 2004 chronicling the work of Alice Paul and other women activists leading to the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment. The film’s director, Katja von Garnier is traveling from Germany to attend the event. Learn more about the festival at cascadiafilmfest.org.

Repeat winners at the 34th annual Legendary Banked Slalom The Legendary Banked Slalom course was slightly shorter than last year, but prime

New owner, updates at Maple Fuels Maple Fuels has a new owner, Bruce Gasarch, who, along with manager Cory Hein, is working on a few additions to the gas station and general store in Maple Falls. Gasarch, a former resident of the Garden State, is sprucing up the deli and bringing back fresh baked goods using original owner Bethnie Morrison’s recipes for cinnamon rolls, cream cheese brownies, blueberry oatbars and cheese spreads. He’s also rounding out the store’s inventory providing hardware, auto supplies, a large selection of spirits, and more. Maple Fuels is open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

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MOUNTAIN TRIVIA By Jason D. Martin This is the third installment of mountain trivia in Mount Baker Experience. Find previous installments online at mountbakerexperience.com.

sionary behind the Chouinard Equipment Company. In 1989, the company was struggling with several liability issues and went into bankruptcy. It was bought by a group of employees led by Peter Metcalf and rebranded itself as what outdoor gear company? a) Black Diamond b) Patagonia c) Petzl d) Helly Hansen

In 1959, Walt Disney Productions adapted Banner in the Sky, a book by James Ramsey Ullman, about a young Swiss mountain guide who makes the first ascent of a fictional mountain called the Citadel after the same mountain killed his father years before. In the film, the Matterhorn stands in for the Citadel, and the ride in Disneyland was inspired by the movie. The movie does not have the same name as the book. What was the movie called? a) Buried in the Sky b) Third Man on the Mountain c) The Beckoning Silence d) The Eiger Sanction

Mount Everest

The well-regarded novelist behind the “Hyperion Cantos” science fiction series penned a piece of historical fiction about Mt. Everest. In his book ,“The Abominable,” a year has gone by since Mallory and Irvine disappeared. A second – this time covert – expedition is launched to search for a secret lost on the mountain. This excellent adventure story is full of climbing adventure, spies, Nazis and even yetis. Who wrote this book? a) Stephen King b) William Gibson c) Dan Simmons d) Andy Weir

In June of 2019, a 10-year-old named Selah Schneiter became the youngest known person to climb this famous 3,000-foot feature. a) The Nose on El Capitan b) The northwest face of Half Dome c) Liberty Ridge on Mt. Rainier d) The Cassin Ridge on Denali

10 compete on standardized, 15-meter-tall walls with exactly the same hold placements, is little known in the United States but popular elsewhere. It has its own version of the four-minute mile that no one seems able to break. What is that limit? a) Two meters per second b) The five-second mark c) Four meters per second d) The seven-second mark

There are two major types of rock climbing, free climbing and aid climbing. In free climbing, a climber ascends the wall using his or her hands and feet. The rope and the gear are only there for protection. In aid climbing, the climber places gear in the wall as he or she ascends. The climber clips webbing ladders to the gear to go up the wall. What are these ladders called? a) Cams b) Etriers or aiders c) AidClimbers d) Lads (short for ladders)

In early May, Seattle lost a beloved outdoor shop in the heart of Ballard. A sign appeared on the door that said, “We will miss you.” For over 20 years the shop served the climbing, skiing, biking and backcountry communities at its Ballard location. In late June, it was announced that the shop would reopen under new ownership, while also retaining most of its core employees. What is the name of the shop? a) Feathered Friends b) Pro Mountain Shop c) Marmot Mountain Works d) Ascent Outdoors

2020 will mark the first time that climbing is involved in the Olympics. Oddly, to medal, an individual must be competitive in three categories: sport climbing, bouldering and speed climbing. This third category, in which climbers

low fixed lines through the constantly moving and incredibly dangerous icefall. Every year a small and intrepid group of Sherpa guides develop the route through the icefall and fix the lines. Mt. Everest climbers refer to these specific Sherpa guides as what? a) Everest riggers b) Icefall riggers c) Everest doctors d) Icefall doctors

The Khumbu Icefall is one of the cruxes of a climb on the south side of Mt. Everest. Most climbers fol-

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | SPRING 2020

The Legendary Banked Slalom snowboard race has been held every year except one at the Mt. Baker Ski Area since 1985. Some of the biggest names in the history of snowboarding have won the event. As a tribute to the culture of early snowboarding, the LBS doesn’t award a regular trophy. Famously, the trophy is made out of what? a) Cardboard b) Gaudy plastic jewels c) Candles (It’s lit when presented to the winner.) d) Duct tape

Just south of Larrabee State Park, on a wide point in Chuckanut Drive, there is a trail next to a plaque on a mossy boulder that goes up to a steep and loose sandstone climbing crag. The crag was once called Julia’s Outcrop, but has a more commonly used name that was generated from the plaque at the trailhead. What is this crag called? a) The Boat Launch Wall b) Captain Vancouver Cliff c) Lincoln Crags d) Governor Lister Cliff

Yvon Chouinard got around. He was famous for making equipment used to rock climb and was the vi-

On a topographic map, the change in elevation between each topographic line is referred

to as what? a) Elevation marker b) Contour interval c) Mercator distance d) Index line

It’s well known that Mt. Everest is the tallest mountain in the world above the ocean. But due to the effect of centrifugal forces on the shape of the earth, it is not the tallest mountain from the center of the Earth. That prize goes to what Ecuadorian mountain? a) Chimborazo b) Antisana c) Cayambe d) Cotopaxi Answers are on page 44. MountBakerExperience.com

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Twig Earthgoods Glacier duo brings personality to useful art Story and photos by Hannah Singleton

Zoe and Jordan of Twig Earthgoods at home in Glacier

n a snowy weekday evening in a basement art studio in Glacier, Washington, Jordan Yates turned a bowl on a lathe while Zoe Petersen spun clay. I watched Zoe move slowly and intuitively, seeming to feel out the clay to reveal its inner shape. Rust-colored water dripped from her hands onto the wheel as she transformed the spinning clay into pristine shapes. Behind a makeshift curtain, Jordan’s hands braced a chisel as it sliced against wood, shaving off layers to reveal hidden grains and knots. Spirals of shavings flew like fireworks, ricocheting around the room, carpeting the floor. A hypnotic whooshing sound filled the room with each rotation of the bowl. Ceramics and wood sat perched on shelves, a hodgepodge of raw materials and finished goods. On the desk in the center was an array of beautifully crafted mugs and spoons that the pair displays at the Bellingham Farmers Market. Zoe and Jordan create and sell usable art together under the name Twig Earthgoods. Zoe makes ceramics, while Jordan primarily creates spoons. Together, they collaborate on pitchers, mugs and other ceramic items. Earlier that afternoon, they were greeted by familiar faces as we walked into the Wake ’N Bakery. We found an upstairs table where I watched them cradle their handmade mugs. One of the cups was a silvery tan color, with a pattern of lines

around the top, and a wooden handle – an example of how the two artisans merge their art to create unique goods. In their work, Jordan and Zoe aim to retain the elements of the hand. “We’re not competing with machines, we’re making handmade products. So, it’s nice to have those idiosyncrasies so that people can tell it is handmade,” Zoe explains. Their mission is to revive the lost art of handmade goods. Zoe loves the idea of having a relationship with the maker of your belongings: “When you interact with the object, you’re almost holding their hand. Their hands are so much within the object.” In a world where people are so disconnected from their material possessions, Zoe and Jordan aim to familiarize this usually anonymous process. Their process is as far from mass manufacturing as possible. When Jordan started his craft, he constructed spoons purely for functionality. Now, his process has evolved. “Every time I sit down to make a spoon, I can make a shape I’ve never made before. It feels very complex,” he said. “And so much goes in to make it feel good,” Zoe explains. The shape, the angle of the handle – these are all elements that affect how a spoon feels when you use it. Zoe and Jordan met in Bellingham about six years ago. After a year, they moved down to Taos, New Mexico, a town with a thriving arts scene where they launched into their work. Zoe started pottery while studying at Western Washington University, but refined her craft in New Mexico at a community studio. Surrounded by artists, she learned how

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to center the clay – one of the most fundamental aspects of the craft. And while Jordan had once used power tools, he learned the art of hand carving out of necessity while living off-grid. After two years, they returned to Washington and moved to Glacier, a location that’s been pivotal for their work, as the North Cascades inspires their creations. Zoe replicates shapes and colors they encounter on outdoor explorations. Currently, snow and ice formations inspire design elements in her work. She’s making mugs resembling suncups: the honeycomb-like depressions that melt in the snow in the summer heat. Jordan’s connection to his landscape is physical; he uses fallen hardwood branches for his spoons. As he walks through the forest, he imagines the smell of the wood and pictures the colors and grains hiding under the bark. These experiences live in their finished products, embedded in each curve and detail. At the end of the day, we returned to the small camper up the road from their studio where Jordan and Zoe live. Here, handmade goods from friends and past teachers adorn their tiny kitchen. Jordan hands me a spoon with a design element. Facets, he tells me. These intentional knife marks form textured patterns in the wood. To me, they look like honeycombs. I’m reminded of the delicate web of lines that decorated the rim of some of Zoe’s mugs. As they prepared for dinner, I reached into their collection of spoons. “It’s always interesting to see which one people will pick,” Zoe said. I grabbed one and turned it around in my fingers. It was beautiful, but not quite right. I exchanged it for another, running my fingers over the ridges and across the grain, holding the handle as I would when using it. Perfect. They served a dinner of lamb and roasted vegetables on handmade plates, using wooden spoons. These everyday tools were a collection of art made by people they held dear, and each contained a set of memories. As we settled in to eat, it was evident that Jordan and Zoe embodied the mission of their craft. Twig Earthgoods can be found at the Bellingham Farmers Market, at Phoebe Bird on State Street in Bellingham, and on Instagram at twig_earthgoods.

SPRING 2020 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

Vision Exercises for Snowboarders and Skiers Story and photo by Luca Williams

A rider looks for changes in the terrain at the bottom of the Mt. Baker Legendary Banked Slalom course. Oliver Lazenby photo.

rom the moment we wake up, our eyes are at work, allowing us to text, drive, work on a computer, stare at our kids, friends, and partners with love or frustration. Then, for fun, we go play in the snow, racing downhill, avoiding people, trees, rocks, wind lips and mounds of snow in flat light. Many of us strengthen our legs for skiing and snowboarding, but how many of us work on improving our visual skills, or know that that’s even possible? Skiing and snowboarding require so many visual skills. We use depth awareness to determine how close objects are while moving fast. We have to detect varying shades of white in or-

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der to see bumps and dips. We use peripheral vision to spot skiers coming at us from all sides. Recently at my annual vision exam, I found out that my left eye is not functioning as well as my right as my eyes slowly age. I don’t need glasses yet, but I will if something doesn’t change. During the easier portion of the vision test I asked the assistant to retest me. While she was changing the chart, I gently dug my fingers in the back of my head, where the skull meets the neck, for a minute and my left eye then scored perfectly. I made a bet with the vision doctor that I could improve my eyes before my next annual exam. Luckily, he has a sense of humor so we wagered our first-born children. Eye movements can affect muscle tension, especially in the spinal muscles and muscles at the base of the skull. And the tension in our spinal muscles and eye muscles can also affect vision. Here is a fun exercise to help you “see” what I am talking about. This movement piece is especially helpful for snowboarders after looking over the same shoulder run after run, but everyone can benefit. 1) Sitting or standing, turn your neck to the right as far as you can comfortably. Next, do the same on the left. Notice how far behind you can see, and which side is easier. 2) Take a deep breath and this time turn your head right. Keep your head turned to the right, then using only your eyes scan back and forth slowly. Do this three or four times. Now turn your head back to center. Breathe and do the other side. Take another breath and look straight ahead. 3) Find an object straight ahead to gaze at, then – without moving your eyes – turn your head to the right a few times. Do the other side. Breathe. Now, retry step 1. Notice how much easier it is to turn your head. This gentle but powerful exercise allows us to affect muscles used for vision that we are not able to touch. By releasing these muscles, we improve our neck’s range of motion and in turn release the muscles at the base of the back of our head that affect our vision. On the hill, at work or at the computer, when you don’t have the time or attention to do this

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The real voyage of discovery is not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. – Marcel Proust eye exercise, slowly turn your head right and left to relax muscles up and down the spine. In addition, at least once an hour, look out a window or at an object that is at least 20 yards away. Allow your eyes to observe all the space around yourself. One final exercise is eye palming, a luxury to do during the day or as a bedtime routine. Take your hands and gently cup them around your eyes, without pressing on your eyeballs, so that no light shines through. Breathe. Imagine that your eyes are softening in their sockets towards the back of your head. Palm your eyes for a few minutes and notice how rejuvenated you feel afterwards. Palming allows our eyes to rest and relax which is extremely important for vision. I find this one especially important after a busy day, an emotionally stressful day or after staring at a screen for a long time.

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BHUTAN

The land of the dragon Story and photos by Patrick Grubb

Above: Taktshang, or Tiger’s Nest, clings to a cliff above Paro valley at 10,232 feet. Below, clockwise from top left: Our driver, Sonos, l., and guide, Nomgay. Most Bhutanese continue to wear traditional dress. | One of the world’s largest statues of Buddha is located outside of Thimphu and stands nearly 80 feet tall and contains 125,000 smaller Buddhas as well other religious relics. | A sign on a trail leading to a temple. | Atsara entertain people during religious festivals known as Tshechu and often carry phalluses, symbols of fecundity, to mock threaten young women in the audience.

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | SPRING 2020

or those travelers seeking an offthe-track experience, Bhutan is the place to go. A land-locked country of less than a million people, Bhutan is bordered by India and China. To the north, the southern slopes of the eastern Himalayas rise over 23,000 feet while the south features low-lying subtropical forests and lowland river valleys with mountains no higher than 5,000 feet. Accordingly, the climate varies with the elevation and ranges from warm and sub-tropical in the south to temperate in the highlands to bitterly cold in the north. It’s not the easiest country to get around in – there are no trains and the roads are extremely narrow with precipitous dropoffs and hairpin turns. The Bhutanese drive on the left here and given that most roads are about a lane and a half wide, it’s a miracle that any car still has a passenger side mirror attached. While there are four airports in the country, Paro Airport is the gateway for international travelers. Situated in a valley surrounded by mountain peaks reaching 18,000 feet, approaching and departing planes make sudden changes in altitude and direction resulting in a plane full of white knuckles and nervous giggles. Planes can only access the airport during daylight hours and flights are often canceled due to high crosswinds. Very few pilots are certified to make the trip. Here’s a video that will give you an idea of what’s it like to come in for a landing (bit.ly/39nhOwY). The government is a parliamentary democracy; the head of state is the Dragon King, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who sits atop a constitutional monarchy. His father, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, coined the phrase Gross National Happiness index in 1972, which he said was more important than Gross National Product. The concept was subsequently enshrined in the Bhutanese constitution, enacted in 2008. Bhutan is currently on the list of Least Developed Countries from which it hopes to graduate by 2023. While hydroelectric power is its biggest export by value, coming up on the list is tourism. Traveling in Bhutan can only be done by guided tour. Each traveler pays a minimum of $200 or $250 per visitor (depending on month of travel) on touring and accommodations. Included in the price is a $65 per day sustainable development fee that goes towards free education, healthcare and poverty alleviation. All international visitors require a visa ($40 USD). Tourism was only allowed beginning in 1974; the numbers slowly grew from 2,850 in 1992 to just over 250,000 in 2017. Unlike most Asian coun-

tries, scenic spots are mostly occupied by the locals and not hordes of other tourists. Buddhism is central to Bhutanese life. Roadside shrines, stupas, prayer wheels and flags and temples dot the landscape in incalculable numbers. However, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam are also practiced in the country. There is no caste system in Bhutan; slavery was abolished by royal decree in the early 1950s. For the adventure traveler, kayaking, rafting, biking and trekking are the main attractions. River kayaking ranges from easy stroking to big, bad rapids requiring advanced skill levels. There are western adventure companies who can arrange tours in advance that are custom designed for your party. Mountain biking also runs the gamut with relatively flat valley rides accompanied by support vehicles to mountainous terrain 12,000 feet up in the air with single tracks and rock gardens that are as gnarly as you like. Same goes with treks — you can arrange for a relatively easy-going two– or three–day trek or spend around 25 days doing the famous Snowman Trek considered by some to be the most difficult trek in the world with 11 passes as high as 17,000 feet. An easier hike by far is the one to the Tiger’s Nest Monastery perched on the side of a mountain 10,232 feet high. The trail is wide and rocky and takes about seven hours roundtrip. Some people hire ponies for a few dollars which can take them about halfway up the trail. The monastery was constructed in 1692 and is the sacred Buddhist site to where Guru Rinpouche was said to be flown on the back of a tiger; this marked the introduction of Buddhism to Bhutan. In 1998, a fire broke out in the main building of the complex thought to be caused by either an electrical short or butter lamps lighting the hanging tapestries on fire. The monastery was restored in 2005 by the government and then-king Jigme Singye Wangchuck at the cost of approximately $2 million U.S. Whether it’s adventure or spirituality that brings you to Bhutan, you’re bound to find what you’re looking for in the happiest country on earth.

TRAVEL HELP Local travel pro Joan Dickerson has plenty of experience in Bhutan and can help travelers with the arrangements starting with visas and flights as well as accommodations, travel and guide services in the country. Connect with her at joan@uniqdestinations.com or by phone at 360/5100242. Go to uniqdestinations.com for more information. MountBakerExperience.com

GALLERY From top: Australian born, now Canadian permanent resident Shannon Brown laying back and making it rain on a rare sunny afternoon in Tofino, B.C. Marcus Paladino photo. | Bowman Bay, Deception Pass State Park. Jason Griffith photo.

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MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | SPRING 2020

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Clockwise from top left: A female Rufous hummingbird with her smartly decorated nest of moss and lichen. Jason Griffith photo | Dad and daughter splitboarding near Artist Point. Audra Lee Mercille photo. | Hikers on third beach in Olympic National Park. Jason Griffith photo. | Alex Franke skiing in the Mt. Baker backcountry. Nick Danielson photo. | Spring snow near Coleman Pinnacle. Jason Griffith photo.

GALLERY

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MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | SPRING 2020

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Clockwise from top left: Tuna, beer and party shirts on closing day at Mt. Baker Ski Area. Anne Cleary photo. | Taylor Anderson samples some woodwork at Alice Lake Provincial Park outside Squamish. Evan Skoczenski photo. | High above a cloud inversion on Mt. Townsend, Sarah Burley watches the sunset. Nick Danielson photo. | Andrew McAferty casts into an alpine lake tucked away in the Olympics. Nick Danielson photo. | Sunset in the Mt. Baker Wilderness. Audra Lee Mercille photo. | Kelend Hawks gets dirty on a dark day in Whatcom County. Eric Mickelson photo.

GALLERY

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PASSIONS SHARED "It's my dad to whom I owe my passion for the outdoors, the privilege of learning to ski at a young age, and really just who I am today. When he expressed interest in learning to backcountry ski, I welcomed the opportunity to give back and teach him something. Even on the skin track, the smile says it all." - Matthew Tangeman

“My daughter was a little nervous, but determined. Insisting on wearing a dress for her first real trail ride, she took a couple solid crashes right off the bat, but dusted herself off each time and hopped back on the bike, eager for more. We didn’t go far, distance-wise, but seeing how proud she was at the end felt more satisfying than any all-day epic.” – Eric Mickelson

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | SPRING 2020

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PHOTOGRAPHERS SHARE STORIES OF OUTDOOR INTRODUCTIONS

"Sharing the stoke: turns out the stoke is real, and really contagious! Olivine was sixmonths-old for her first backpacking trip on the shore of Lake Chelan. She learned to crawl on the shores of Baker Lake. She took her first cold water dip in the Glacial water of Lake Ann. Some of her best naps are among the trees in the mossy forest of the Mount Baker Wilderness. The joy on her face when her hands are digging in the dirt, the awe and wonder listening to the sounds of the forest, these things make every ounce of effort, weight and logistics absolutely worthwhile. Slowing down, tasting the earth, counting the worms and smelling the flowers, with her attention to the smaller details, Olivine has surely shared the stoke with me as well.” - Audra Lee Mercille

“Laura Jackson (not pictured) gathered a group of her favorite women and wigs and took us for an overnight on one of the islands. Every time you thought it was time to relax, Laura would yell ‘Everybody back in the boats,’ and we’d set off to gather firewood, watch the sunset, collect kelp for dinner or see the bioluminescence. We learned proper kelp harvesting technique and how to pack an absurd amount of accoutrements in the boats. We played games and laughed into the night. We woke up with the sun and tandem paddled our way home, with Baker in the foreground and happy times left behind. Shot on expired 35mm color film.” - Anne Cleary

SPRING 2020 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

P th ad eS an d Ju li an n g I sla nd s

By Eric Lucas

t first glance the eagle nearby looks like it is perched on the water. It’s an illusion, of course – eagles don’t perch on the sea any more than I do – but it’s an engaging one. The platinum waters of San Juan Island’s Roche Harbor have slow, languid little swells that seem to lift this bird slightly up and down, bobbing like a crabpot float. Easy enough to conduct a reality check. We dip our paddles in the placid bay and cautiously head toward the bird, which seems unconcerned by our kayak. The eagle turns its head to cast an implacable gaze upon us and concludes we are too big to eat but too small to fear, not to mention too silly with half-bodies poking up from neon green fiberglass tubes. The slow blink of the eagle’s nictitating membrane is an eloquent dismissal, and we can’t help but laugh at our obvious insignificance. Anyone who’s encountered an eagle knows that steely stare. Yes, we are close Photos courtesy of San Juan Islands Visitors Bureau

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | SPRING 2020

enough to see every mote in the eagle eye; the sea level vantage afforded by kayak or canoe makes people far less alarming to wild creatures. Stroking past the eagle we eventually discern that it’s on a small sand bar barely an inch above water; the incoming tide will soon subsume its vantage and off it’ll go to one of the broken-top firs that line the shore. These waters house, at a minimum, seals, eagles, shorebirds, herons, sea lions, salmon, crabs, cormorants, loons and more – an aquatic Serengeti. Add to that the compelling variety of water here, from sublimely calm protected bays, coves and inlets, to narrow channels with racing tides, to luminous open straits that are the domain of the Salish Sea’s most famous creatures … not to mention the vast array of other things to see, from sunflower sea stars to glacier-scraped cliffs to minks and otters tumbling along pebbly shores and deer browsing high-tide seaweed. We turn left at Garrison Bay and head into the small cove inside San Juan Island National Historical Park’s English Camp where a sandy beach makes a shore respite easy, and the sights include a hoary old bigleaf maple that was once reputed to be the largest in the world. A half-hour of easy paddling brings us to Westcott Bay Shellfish, another perfect pullout (with a dock) where picnic tables, grassy lawns and

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oysters, clams, mussels and drinks and snacks await visitors. The quirky ambiance is quintessentially island-esque: You have to select your own oysters by hand from the tanks (they provide gloves for the frigid water) and you have to shuck them yourself, too. They’ll give you a knife and a demo, accompanied by a philosophical axiom: “We believe shucking is a valuable life skill.” I agree with that. Shucking has many real-world applications. More cosmically, I’d argue that paddling these islands is a spiritual exercise that enhances life in multiple ways, from sheer fun such as coasting past bald eagles, to the eventual wisdom the experience inoculates into your cells. Yes, this is the domain of orca pods, packs of sea lions and the occasional gray or even fin whale. The southwest coast of San Juan Island along Haro Strait is among the most whalewatched waters on Earth, where the experience of seeing whales is slightly more interesting than the phenomenon posed by all the humans fervently intent on seeing them as they help burn a couple hundred gallons of diesel fuel, fill garbage cans with plastic drinks bottles, and snap a frenzy of pictures for geotagging as exhibits in their bucket list. But I’m not here for encounters with charismatic megafauna. Frankly, from a kayak I’d rather see wigeons than whales, and the quiet paddle routes found in these islands yield an infinity of treasures and things for the careful journeyer to investigate:

• A bed of bull kelp is a marine forest. Hidden in this saltwater habitat are rockfish, crabs, urchins, juvenile salmon, sea stars and more. But what a wondrous thing that they make their own buoys, that they reach 50 feet up from sheer rock, that they are so luxuriant that waves enter a kelp bed like squall lines and turn almost instantly into carpet rolls. • If the neon green of a kayak is a silly human affectation, then why are anemones the same color? And if you pause in a small cove for a half-hour, just drifting above the anemones, sea stars, nudibranchs and rock crabs shimmering in the topaz water, does that time count against your life span? • Ballerinas have nothing on cormorants, which skim above the water with microscopic precision, somehow clearing each wavelet close enough that, were they football players at the goal line, constant replays would fail to certify a score or a flop. But cormorants never flop. Ever. • What are the sea lions saying to each other as they bark incessantly on and around channel buoys? • If it’s dead flat and calm in Fisherman Bay on Lopez Island, why is the mist twirling past at 5 mph? • What’s the difference between a rock, a skerry, an islet and a reef? Intriguing, isn’t it, how we con-

struct vocabularies to bring order to a world that actually consists of limitless disorder and variation. In these islands the water is never still, though the surface may be calm, and the landscape and seascape are faceted a million ways. The current does not consider the name of its turn point – but there’s a small peninsula near Friday Harbor called Turn Point. There are more than 400 islands, rocks, skerries and such in the San Juan archipelago, and at least as many bays, channels, inlets, passages, coves and harbors. The waters that divide the islands, in cartological terms, actually join them. Paddling among them is a meditation in space and time, and my decades of journeys here eventually brought me here to live. The waters are the same, but I’m not. For information on kayak rentals, tours and outfitters, go to visitsanjuans.com. Popular, and worthwhile, put-ins include Friday Harbor,

Roche Harbor, Fisherman Bay, Spencer Spit State Park, Mackaye Harbor, East Sound and West Sound. While there are hundreds of quite safe paddle routes, please ascertain where to go based on your experience level, from local guides and outfitters. As they say in Hawaii, if in doubt, don’t go out.

SPRING 2020 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

FINISH

Any vessel is welcome at the Race to Alaska, as long as it’s motorless. Charley Starr/racetoalaska.com

Ketchikan, AK

RACE TO ALASKA

Waypoint 2 Bella Bella, BC

PORT TOWNSEND TO KETCHIKAN, BY WATER, NO MOTORS

For 2020 there will be just 1 waypoint in Bella Bella.

Waypoint 1 Seymour Narrows

NAUTICAL MILES

100

hat kind of boat race makes you leave your engine back home, is tougher than the Iditarod and warns you about the dangers of bear attacks? The Race to Alaska, or R2AK, of course. Back for its sixth running, this year’s R2AK starting gun will go bang at 5 a.m. on Monday, June 8 in Port Townsend, and with a little luck and guts, finishers will end up 750 miles away in Ketchikan sometime the same month. Why so long? It all depends on what you’re driving. A fast sailboat could make it in a week like Team Angry Beaver did last year while Backwards AF took a tad over 17 days to row across the finish line coming in 23rd and beating two sailboats. The last one to cross the line was Team Wee Free Men who docked two days later. Of course, this doesn’t include the 10 other boats who failed to finish at all. It must have something to do with the team names – what would you expect from Wingnuts, Three Legged Cat, You Either Do Stuff or You Don’t and Funky Dory? The race has two stages. Racers have to first travel 40 miles across the notoriously bumpy Juan de Fuca Strait to Victoria in 36 hours or less. Last year, Backwards AF reported 3-6 feet chop as they rowed across from Dungeness Spit on the Olympic Peninsula. Lots of teams only

10 0

Stage One Finish Stage Two Start

START Townsend,2020 WA | SPRING MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE Port

Photo courtesy of Charley Starr/racetoalaska.com

Taylor Bayly/racetoalaska.com

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Bicycle-powered propellers power many of the sailboats in R2AK when sails can’t. Photo courtesy of Taylor Bayly/racetoalaska.com

participate in the first leg due to lack of time or desire to go the whole distance. These might be considered the sanest of the bunch depending on your viewpoint. Regardless, racers have to make it to Victoria before the deadline to avoid disqualification. How does someone sign up for this race? First off, you need something that floats. It can be powered by the wind, by oars or by pedal but it cannot be driven by a motor of any kind. You should know something about navigation, first aid, be able to row/paddle/sail for long periods of time, know how to use a radio, avoid collisions and have the necessary skills to repair your boat if needed. Oh, and did we mention, you should be nuts? You should be. Seriously so. No question about it. You can sign up online at r2ak.com before April 15. There’s plenty of information about what’s required as well as links to important resources such as how to avoid being attacked by bears and other significant dangers. Both your team and your vessel will be assessed for fitness which sounds daunting but, really, how tough can it be? Kayakers and SUP boarders have done this race. Not too many, but still … Do you have what it takes? Do you have friends who have what it takes? If so, all aboard!

The Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend is Race to Alaska’s home base. The mission of the Northwest Maritime Center is to engage and educate people of all generations in traditional and contemporary maritime life, in a spirit of adventure and discovery. For more info: nwmaritime.org

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CONCRETE 5B’S BAKERY 45597 Main Street 360/853-8700 5bsbakery.com Skagit County’s premier bakeshop serving home-style breads as well as a full array of fresh baked goods and classic American desserts. Dedicated gluten-free. Great food for everyone. Open 7 a.m.–5 p.m. Closed Tuesdays.

ANNIE’S PIZZA STATION 44568 State Route 20 360/853-7227 anniespizzastation.com Family-owned pizza restaurant focusing on fresh, homemade quality Italian fare. Friendly service, helpful information and great food combine for an unforgettable experience.

DEMING THE NORTH FORK BREWERY AND BEER

6186 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-2337 northforkbrewery.com Looking for a pint of fresh ale and handtossed pizza? This pizzeria, brewery, and beer museum is your place! Open to all. Open every day at noon.

EVERSON GOOD TO GO MEAT PIES 128 W. Main Street 360/966-2400 goodtogomeatpies.com Artisan Hand Pies made from scratch in the heart of Whatcom County’s organic farmland has made Good to Go Meat Pies a popular destination. Pastries are offered hot, chilled or frozen.

HERB NIEMANN’S STEAK HOUSE RESTAURANT 203 W. Main Street 360/966-2855 herbniemannssteakhouse.com Nestled in the middle of Everson, serving a mouth-watering array of steaks, Bavarian specialties, seafood and desserts to customers since 1993. Offers atmospheres for adults and families alike, including parties up to 50. Open at 5 p.m. everyday.

GLACIER CHAIR 9 WOODSTONE PIZZA AND BAR 10459 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-2511 chair9.com The perfect place to enjoy a great family meal or a brew after a day on the mountain. Bands play weekends. Try the “Canuck’s Deluxe” pizza, a staff favorite. Open for lunch and dinner. Dine in or take out. Check music events on Facebook.

GRAHAM’S HISTORICAL RESTAURANT 9989 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-1933 grahamshistoricalrestaurant.com Great food with vegetarian, vegan and GF options. Legendary bar. Live music.

The Knotty Lodge - GLACIER, WA

Open daily for lunch and dinner.

WAKE ‘N BAKERY 6903 Bourne Street 360/599-9378 getsconed.com Open daily 7:30 a.m.–5ish p.m. Serving breakfast burritos, quiche, soup, lunch wraps and freshly baked goods. Savory and sweet gluten-free options. Organic espresso and coffee. Indoor and outdoor seating. Dine in or take out.

MAPLE FALLS

SLEEPS BOW THE SKAGIT RIDGE HOTEL 1844 Bow Hill Rd. 888/724-1640 theskagit.com/hotel Simply cozy hotel features scenic views of the North Cascades and Skagit Valley while preserving a secluded setting for your next getaway. Located just off I-5 at exit 236.

GLACIER

MAPLE FUELS

BLUE T LODGE

Corner of Silver Lake Rd. & Mt Baker Hwy. 360/599-2222 Find us on Facebook Espresso, fresh made baked goods & sandwiches. Hand-scooped ice cream. Open 6 a.m. - 9 p.m. 7 days a week.

10459 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-9944 bluetlodge.com Conveniently located behind Chair 9 Woodstone Pizza and Bar, this six-room inn is ideal for families or groups. Clean rooms have queensizedbeds,afullbathroomandprivatesmallpatiosaswellasaccesstoa meeting space.

MOUNT VERNON

THE KNOTTY LODGE

THIRD STREET CAFE 309 South Third Street 360/542-5022 thirdstreetcafe.coop Brought to you by the Skagit Valley Food Co-op, Third Street Cafe is a communityowned restaurant and bar offering a fresh perspective on Pacific Northwest cuisine with its made-from-scratch dishes and hyperlocal ingredients.

SKAGIT VALLEY CO-OP 202 S. 1st Street 360/336-9777 skagitfoodcoop.com We make our deli food from scratch using fresh, quality ingredients, sourced from local and organic suppliers whenever possible. Stop in for entrees, side dishes, soups, salads, sandwiches, or our handmade, organic ice cream. We offer vegan, vegetarian, raw, gluten-free, and whole food choices for every meal.

360/303-2887 VRBO.com/563675 @knottylodge Explore, Relax, Repeat Premier Mt. Baker vacation rental 3 bed, 2 bath, luxury timber home with modern amenities, hottub, WiFi, gourmet kitchen, fireplace, fire pit. Your perfect getaway base camp!

LUXURY GETAWAYS 9989 Mt. Baker Highway 360/398-9590 or 877/90-BAKER luxurygetaways.com Redefining the cabin in the woods. Luxury Getaways offers a variety of vacation rentals located in the heart of the Mt. Baker Recreational Area. Our accommodations are perfect for hitting the slopes and relaxing.

SERENE MOUNTAIN ESCAPES 360/961-0123 SereneMountainEscapes.com Where Elegance Meets Nature. High quality vacation homes close to Mt. Baker & Artist Point. Immaculately cleaned, well stocked, eco-friendly/nontoxic products. Choose from 1-12 people, hot tubs, dog friendly, pools & more!

MARCH 2020

6th Annual La Conner Daffodil Festival View Pictures & Book online at

www.vrbo.com/563675 or call 360.303.2887 32

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | SPRING 2020

Daffodil Dance by Rachel Joy

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EVENTS

find more events and submit your own at mountbakerexperience.com

MARCH MUSSELS IN THE KETTLES AND PENN COVE MUSSEL FESTIVAL: March

7-8 Coupeville. Take an early season mountain bike ride on Whidbey Island and enjoy the world Famous Penn Cove Mussel Festival. More info: coupevillechamber.com

SEATTLE BIKE SHOW: March 7 & 8.

Check out the biggest bike expo in the Northwest More info: seattlebikeshow.com

BAKER SPLITFEST: March 13-15,

Glacier. Now in its 11th year, the Baker Splitfest hosted by Chair 9 in Glacier has become one of the largest splitboarding events in the world. More info: splitfest. com

BAKER BEACON RALLY: March 14, Mt.

Baker Ski Area. Bring your shovel, probe and beacon or use a demo for a free avalanche rescue workshop at Heather Meadows. More info: mtbaker.us

WINGS OVER WATER NW BIRDING FESTIVAL: March 20-22, Blaine and

Birch Bay. Expert wildlife speakers, raptor presentations, photography work shop and more. More info: wingsoverwaterbirdingfestival.com

APRIL WORLD TOUR PADDLING FILM FESTIVAL: April 3, Bellingham. Moon-

dance Sea Kayak Adventures is happy to be hosting the 2nd Annual screening of The World Tour Paddling Film Festival at Bellingham Technical College. View a selection of award winning, paddling adventure films, featuring sea kayaking, paddle boarding, canoeing, rafting and more. More info: moondancekayak.com

CASCADIA INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S FILM FESTIVAL: April 16-19, Bellingham. In its fouth year, Cascadia International Women’s Film Festival is celebrating female filmmakers once again. The festival is one of a handful in the nation that exclusively shows films directed by women. More info: cascadiafilmfest.org

VANCOUVER SUN RUN: April 19,

Vancouver. The largest 10K race and one of the most beautiful in the world. The course features views of mountains, ocean, beaches, skyscrapers and bridges. More info: vancouversunrun.com

TOUR DE LOPEZ: April 25, Lopez Island. Beautiful scenery, multiple route lengths and a limited number of riders makes

for a great ride. Come for the day or the weekend and enjoy bbq, live music and a beer garden. More info: lopezisland.com

MAY RECREATION NORTHWEST EXPO: May

2, Bellingham Cruise Terminal. Recreation Northwest’s annual expo is back, and this time it’s headed outside, with bike and paddle demos. Meet face to face with apparel and gear manufacturers, retailers, outfitters, outdoor media, activity clubs, stewardship organizations and representatives from your favorite local recreation events and races. More info: recreationnwexpo.org.

SKI TO SEA: May 24, Bellingham. The iconic multi-sport race of the Northwest. Ski, run, bike and paddle from Mt. Baker to Bellingham Bay. Put together a team and register, or just join the festivities in Bellingham and Fairhaven. More info: skitosea.com CONCRETE MOUNTAIN FILM FESTIVAL: May 28-31, Concrete. Four days of mountain movies, presentations, workshops and more at the Concrete Theatre. More info: mountainsonfilm.com

VISIT

rca Network’s

Visit Orca Network's Whale NEWCenter

&Whale UniqueCenter Gift Shop

105 Anthes Avenue in Langley

at 117 Anthes in Langley on Whidbey Island, WA Whidbey Island WA Come learn 360-221-7505 everything you need to know about the two kinds of orcas living in Whidbey Island waters, www.OrcaNetwork.org and the gray whales who visit here annually. LangleyWhaleCenter@Whidbey.com

Come see, hear, and learn about the two types of 360-221-7505 www.OrcaNetwork.org orcas living all around Whidbey Island, and the unique gray whales who visit here each year.

17th Annual Tour de Lopez Island April 25, 2020 Great Family Event Multiple Routes • Includes Picnic Lunch • Live Music and Please send your sighting reports to: info@orcanetwork.org • Beer Garden or call 866-ORCANET (672-2638)

for the day orCome post them on the

or stay for the weekend!

Orca Network Facebook page LI M ITE D REGISTRATION.

www.lopezisland.com

www.events.com

JUNE KULSHAN QUEST: June 6, Bellingham. At Kulshan Quest Adventure Race you get a map with checkpoints 30 minutes before the start. Your team decides the route. Try the Recreation (4-6 hour) course that includes mountain biking and trekking or the Expert (8-12 hour) course, which also includes kayaking. More info: questraces.com BELLINGHAM SWIM RUN: June 7, Lake Padden Park. The sport where you swim and run, swim and run, swim and run. Bellingham swimrunners will travel 15 kilometers in seven running legs and six swimming legs or try out the beginner friendly 5K. More info: questraces.com

NORTHWEST TUNE-UP: June 5-7, Bellingham. Bellingham’s next “signature event,” a weekend of mountain bike races, music and beer around Bellingham. Concerts and pump track events on the waterfront, races on Galbraith and 24 craft breweries and cideries. More info:nwtuneup.com DEMING LOGGING SHOW: June 13-14,

Deming. See world championship loggers compete in 31 events and perform incredible feats of woodsmanship. Breakfast and BBQ. More info: demingloggingshow.com

YOUR RECREATION DESTINATION! Penn Cove Mussel Festival Sat. & Sun. March 7 & 8 Penn Cove Water Festival May 16 Coupeville Memorial Parade & Concert Sat. May 23 SPRING 2020 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

CITIZEN

SCIENTISTS measure snow in places scientists can’t

By Elizabeth Kimberly Photo courtesy of Community Snow Observations.

ith the onset of spring in the Cascades, the mountain snowpack begins its annual phase change: dense snow becomes cold, flowing water – sustenance to the watershed. To better predict the volume and timing of snowmelt, scientists need an accurate yearly record of snow depth in the mountains. On a grander scale, snow depth can help foretell the potential for floods, wildfires and the fate of glaciers, rivers and fish habitat. But there are gaps in our knowledge of snowpack. Scien-

tists use aircraft or satellite imagery and computer models to estimate snow coverage and depth. Information from snow telemetry stations augments the models and remote data, providing data on depth and the amount of water in the snow (called snow water equivalent). However, there are limits to the accuracy of remote imagery and computer modeling, and telemetry stations are primarily in accessible and gentle terrain and only measure a single location; they can’t capture the variability of snow depth even in the easyto-reach areas.

A group of researchers saw a potential solution to this problem lurking in the community of people playing and exploring the Cascades in winter and spring. They launched a citizen science project called Community Snow Observations (CSO) to encourage adventurers to collect and submit snow depth data in the remote places that scientists cannot get to. In places like Artist Point, or your favorite scenic viewpoint just off of Highway 542, or the pinnacle where the Coleman Glacier meets the Deming Glacier on Mount Baker, field observations broaden scientists’ data-set, reduce the uncertainties of the computer models, and “ground-truth” the aerial and satellite measurements. CSO was initially proposed in 2017 by a team of professors and research scientists – Gabriel Wolken from the University of Alaska Fairbanks, Anthony Arendt at the University of Washington, and David Hill at Oregon State University. After proving its usefulness for snow science applications and its promise as a citizen science project, NASA fully funded it in 2018. The project is implemented worldwide, but the efforts are primarily focused on the Intermountain West, Pacific Northwest, Alaska and Scandinavia. While CSO is looking for data from all seasons, longer spring days coupled with the promise of corn skiing and remote summits bring adventure-seekers to regions with little data. To submit a measurement, you only need three things: undisturbed snow, a measuring tool (avalanche probe, yard stick, or tape measure) and access to a smart phone or computer. Learn more about Community Snow Observations at communitysnowobs.org

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e left Seattle after work at 5 p.m. on a Friday in February, eager to find ice that was still “in” before the ice climbing season disappeared. We pulled into Lillooet, B.C. at 1 a.m. the next day and climbed all day Saturday and Sunday, only to turn around and drive the painfully exhausting eight hours home for work on Monday. Come Friday, I would be back at it, rearing to fill up another weekend with outdoor adventures. How many of us can relate to this script? Work hard, play hard. Society trains us to maximize our time, like the commercial that shows the hard-working lawyer rushing from his job in a suit, straight to hitting the bicycle, then finishing with a hot date at the bar. Go, go, go! In an age when many of us are stuck at a computer five days a week, racking up hours on our cell phones and spending evenings watching Netflix, a weekend in the mountains can feel like a necessary way to unplug. It can feel like the only way to truly connect in meaningful ways with others and ourselves. We learn valuable lessons, breathe fresh air and move our bodies in profound ways. For the past 10 years, I have been religious about getting out on weekends. It’s easy to see how it makes us better, healthier people and brings joy to our lives. But when does being a weekend warrior cross the line from being healthy to getting in the way of what may be more important in our lives? I have missed out on a lot of important events by prioritizing the outdoors. Friends’ birthdays, family gatherings, parties, work functions and sporting events have been bypassed. As an avid climber, skier and mountaineer I like to think I care about the environment; the fuel burned to get to these amazing places says otherwise. When I come back from a mountain adventure, I feel rejuvenated and my spirit is lifted, but my body is often broken down. I roll into the workweek feeling worn out and lethargic, struggling with low energy due to lack of sleep and physical exhaustion. Am I a better person for having spent so much time on outdoor adventures or has it taken away from more important things? It’s a fine line, but it can be blatantly obvious when it’s crossed. When I missed a rare dinner opportunity with my sister who was visiting from the East Coast because I was late coming back from a ski tour at Snoqualmie Pass, I knew I had crossed that line. The answer it seems (as cliché as it is), comes in finding the right balance. While outdoor media mostly shows the upside of spending all our free time outside, let’s not forget what else is important. Whether it be prioritizing weekend brunch with friends, taking a weekend off from driving, saving energy for the work week, or being there for an important holiday: it’s OK to lose a weekend in the mountains in favor of something else.

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Devon Raney following his daughter at the 2018 Dirksen Derby at Mount Bachelor. Colin Wiseman photo/ courtesy of Patagonia Books

Still Sideways Tandem Snowboarding at the Banked Slalom Devon Raney, a surfer, snowboarder, and homebuilder, had life pretty well figured out until he began losing his vision at age 33. In this excerpt from his new book ‘Still Sideways: Riding the Edge Again After Losing my Sight,’ Raney finds a way to keep snowboarding. February is an exciting time for Glacier, and more people were coming into town daily in preparation for the Legendary Banked Slalom. The race is the longest-running event in snowboard history, and I was getting excited. Many of the world’s best snowboarders show up to compete in the race, and it is fun to watch them in person. One of those snowboarders is Tom Burt, who was driving up from Lake Tahoe that week for the event. Tom Burt is an icon in the world of snowboarding. He would later become like a brother to me and a constant source of encouragement to my family. At the time, I only knew Tom as an acquaintance through our mutual friend Temple Cummins. As far back as anyone can remember, Tom had been coming to Mt. Baker and competing in the Legendary Banked Slalom. In previous years I had the good fortune of being entered in the race as well, and so I would see Tom in the wax area at Temple’s condo. I wouldn’t talk much as we all tuned up our boards, but I listened in awe

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | SPRING 2020

while Tom told stories. He has a vast expanse of mountain knowledge and a ton of experience to share, but it was always his electric charisma and unyielding positive energy that excited me the most. I saw Tom the morning after he arrived. Approaching me at the rope tow where Becca and I played with Madrona, Tom skipped all formalities by simply saying, “I hear you have the sickness,” and then laughed in his disarming way as he gave me a hug. I laid out for him all that had happened over the last six months, starting at the beginning when I hit my head surfing. I rambled on for a while and completed my dismal update by admitting that within a few months I would probably be done with snowboarding forever. Adding a bit more to my pity party, I said, “I don’t think I can show up to race. I have a spot, but I don’t think I can do it.” Tom just laughed some more and said, “Go get your board, and let’s figure this out.” Almost intuitively, I began riding 10 feet behind him and

trying to mimic his every move as we worked to fine-tune the technique we soon began calling tandem snowboarding. At first, I simply tried to stay on him as close as possible so that I could catch his every movement. I also relied heavily on what my brain already knew from having 15 years of snowboarding experience. Simply put, if I stayed directly behind Tom, I knew that I wouldn’t crash into anything – unless Tom stopped abruptly, and then all I would hit would be him. On the chairlift after each lap, we discussed how my peripheral vision worked and then how to use the remaining 15 percent of my eyesight in a way that would allow me to MountBakerExperience.com

Jeff Hawe photo/courtesy of Patagonia Books

follow him closer, tighter in the turns, and faster down the hill. Tom is a teacher, a problem solver, and a talker. He can talk a problem through for so long that a solution eventually just appears. “What do you see, Raney?” Tom asked, with a heavy emphasis on the word “do.” “Don’t tell me what you don’t see, Raney. Just tell me what you do see and we will use what’s left.” He wanted to know what worked; he didn’t care about what was gone or broken. He and I are similar in this way. I loved hearing him say that. It reminded me of times on the job site when I would say, “Don’t tell me what we can’t do; just tell me what we can do.” I smiled. “Alright, Burt,” I said. “I can see colors ... sort of.” He laughed, then asked what I meant. “I mean, I don’t like using the word ‘see’ because it’s not the same as it is for you. When I say I can see colors, I mean I can see a difference in colors as they present themselves to me against different backdrops. They are never very clear, and it really depends on the contrast whether or not I can identify a clean separation between colors or objects.” “Oh, my God, Raney. Give it to me simple. Can you see the color of my jacket?” Tom laughed. I looked over at him as we rode the chairlift and moved my eyes in circles as I tried to use my sideways vision to pick up the contrasting colors. “It’s beige,” I stated proudly. “I can see the contrast at your cuffs where your black gloves punch through.” “Nice,” Burt replied. “Yeah, but that jacket doesn’t show up very strongly against the snow when we’re cruising,” I said. “OK,” Tom said enthusiastically. “Tomorrow I’ll wear a black one.” Tom then noted that it was in my favor that snow is white. He asked if I could see the tree line. I told him I could, and it came in handy on overcast days, when the clouds turn the snow and sky the same gray, giving me vertigo. “I can’t tell up from down,” I explained. “We get a lot of gray days here at Baker, and on those days I try to ride near the trees as much as possible so I get some depth perception and definition in the sky.” “That happens to me too,” Tom said, and I agreed that I

had experienced the sensation in whiteout conditions before my vision loss. “When you see things out of the sides of your eyes, is it clear or is it blurry?” he asked. “I don’t know,” I replied sheepishly. “It’s pixelated, like the way old digital cameras would show things that were out of focus. It’s not necessarily blurry—and it doesn’t make me seasick—it’s just slightly fuzzy and without definition.” Tom asked if the center portion of my field of vision was black. “No, it’s a giant gray smudge, like an eraser smudge or dark thundercloud.” “What happens when I put my finger in front of your goggles?” Tom asked, and I knew he was probably holding a finger right in front of my face. When I told him I could only see the smudge, he asked, “What if I move it over here?” “I pick up the movement first, and if it’s close enough I can tell it’s a finger, but probably because I’ve known what a hand is for 33 years. The eye doctor says my eyesight is classified as having the ability to count fingers at a foot.” “Crazy,” he said. For the rest of the day Tom would regularly yell, “Raney, just don’t hit anything dark!” The following day Tom wore a black jacket, and it was amazing how much easier it was for me to follow him by the definition black on white provided. I told him that the more he moved, the easier it was for me to see him. After I suggested that he look for tight sections, ride up the walls, and cut back across, he responded, “Sweet, I like gullies.” In the open runs Tom would carve more turns than usual and wave his arms to give me additional motion indicators to follow. He also shouted verbal cues, but we realized our speed was too fast for my brain to catch up before I ran over whatever it was that made him shout in the first place. At the end of that first day, I felt like I had been led around the mountain by a rope. My neck was sore from tracking Tom’s every move. Eventually my neck muscles would adjust and the new muscles I was using would grow stronger. We left our boards outside the White Salmon Lodge and went in to find Rebecca and Madrona, and we all headed for the parking lot. “Will I see you tonight at Temple’s for the wax party?”

Tom asked. “Oh yeah, Burt. I’ll be there putting on the good stuff. If there’s one thing I need right now it’s more speed,” I said sarcastically. “That’s the spirit, Raney,” he said, grinning and nodding his head. “We get our first runs tomorrow. You’re showing up, right?” I smiled. “I always show up, Burt. You know that.” Excerpted from Still Sideways: Riding the Edge Again After Losing My Sight © 2020 by Devon Raney. Reprinted with permission by Patagonia.

With 15 percent of his vision, Devon Raney senses a tube and hangs on. Most of his vision is a gray smudge but he can see the contrast between water and sky. Colin Wiseman photo/ courtesy of Patagonia Books.

SPRING 2020 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

Maple Beach

Point Roberts Lily Point

CANADA UNITED STATES

Patos Island Sucia Island

Orcas Island

Roa d

4 DRAYTON HARBOR

Dra yton Har bor

ive

Grandview Road

Birch Bay State Park

BIRCH BAY

Clark Island

Point Whitehorn

Birch Bay Dr

SEMIAHMOO BAY

Matia Island

Birch Bay

Blaine

548

Kickerville Road

Sunset Beach

548

lW ay

Ferndale

BELLINGHAM BAY * See note regarding Lummi Nation border on reverse side.

Lynden

10 12

11 13

Birch Bay State Park .................................................................

Dakota Creek Kayak Launch............................................................................

Blaine Boat Launch ...................................................................................

Semiahmoo Resort ........................................................................

Semiahmoo Park ........................................................................................

Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts ..........................................

NOT FOR NAVIGATIONAL USE

Little Squalicum Beach...................................................................................

Lake Terrell .....................................................................................................

Squalicum Harbor Boat Launch .................................................................

Gulf Road........................................................................................................ 9

Zuanich Point Park ....................................................................................

Cornwall Beach...............................................................................................

Marine Park ....................................................................................................

Boulevard Park ..........................................................................................

Larrabee State Park, Wildcat Cove ...............................................

Lake Samish (Fish & Wildlife) ..............................................................

Fairhaven Boat Launch, Community Boating Center................................ 16

Samish Park ..............................................................................................

Lake Whatcom (Bloedel-Donovan) ................................................

Lake Padden Boat Launch (access rentals via west entrance) .....

Alabama St.

Dr.

BloedelDonovan Park

Lakeway

Woburn St.

Yew St.

LAKE PADDEN

542

Galbraith Mountain

LAKE WHATCOM

Nor t

hsh

Wha

tcom

ore

Blvd

LAKE SAMISH

Dri ve

Cornwall Ave.

Moondance Sea Kayak Adventures, and our local public land agencies. Credit for support of the map goes to Port of Bellingham commissioner Michael Sheppard for recognizing the value of public access to our waterways. “This has been an amazing cross-agency collaboration, working with city of Bellingham parks, city of Blaine, Whatcom County parks, Washington State Parks, DNR and Lummi Nation,” Stark said.

Lake Whatcom (Fire Hall) .................................................................................

Lake Whatcom Park ...................................................................................

539

Bellingham

Clayton Beach

Lake

Community Boating Center

Locust Beach

CHUCKANUT BAY Larrabee State Park

landowners and engaging the public to identify key locations and prioritize improvements for safety and access. River access will be included in a future version. We will also begin seeking public input at the Paddling Film Festival on April 3, at Bellingham Technical College. Gina Stark, project manager with the Port of Bellingham’s Regional Economic Partnership, lead the project with help from Recreation Northwest, Kristi Kucera of

Portage Island

Birch Bay Lynden Road

WHATCOM COUNTY, WASHINGTON

Po r

Lummi Island

Lummi Nation

Mountain View Road

Slater Road

LAKE TERRELL

Lummi Ferry

LUMMI BAY

Lake Terrel Road

he Port of Bellingham is releasing a promotional map to water access points along Whatcom County’s marine shoreline and freshwater lakes. The first version of the Whatcom Water Trail map will be distributed to promote our region as a water sports destination and an initial step in a longer-term process. We will continue working with local

iver

Monument Park

CANADA Tumbo Island

Saturna Island

KEY Discover Pass (details on other side) ..... Garbage ................................................. Restrooms .............................................. Free Parking ........................................... Day Use .................................................. Overnight Camping ................................. Visitor Information Center ........................ Rental ...................................................

Whatcom Water

TRAIL MAP

By Todd Elsworth, Recreation Northwest director

ck R ksa Noo

MountBakerExperience.com

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After years of change

GEAR AID

Tenacious Tape, now available in animal shapes, is one of Gear Aid’s best known products. Photo courtesy of Gear Aid.

seeks to spread its philosophy of gear care and repair By Oliver Lazenby

A Gear Aid display at Backcountry Essentials in Bellingham. Photo courtesy of Gear Aid.

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | SPRING 2020

or people who use Gear Aid products, Pat Kennedy’s first experience with the company may sound familiar. The first time he wore his $300 Mountain Hardwear puffy coat – the first nice puffy coat he ever owned – his dog jumped on him and tore a one-inch rip in the synthetic fabric. Kennedy, an REI employee, patched it with some repair tape he’d received as a sample. That was 10 years ago. “I still have that jacket,” he said. “It’s falling apart in so many ways. That one patch is probably the strongest part of the whole jacket.” Now Kennedy keeps that same stuff – Gear Aid’s Tenacious Tape – stashed in all his backpacks, the junk drawer and his glove box. In the decade since, he’s used products across Gear Aid’s line, which includes everything from cleaning products and wash-in waterproofer for technical gear to camping accessories and wetsuit repair adhesive. As a market coordinator at the Bellingham REI store, Kennedy has also seen Gear Aid, formerly known as McNett Corporation, become more familiar to shoppers. “Customers are definitely more aware of Gear Aid now. We have Gear Aid stuff parked right in the front of the store in the winter. Because of the amount of tears you see in puffy jackets and ski jackets, it’s probably one of our best selling $10 items,” he said. If the company has become more familiar to customers in the last 10 years, it’s for good reason. The Bellingham-based compa-

ny of about 45 employees has gone through some big changes recently: a legal name change, original owners selling the company in 2015, and hiring former vice president of operations at Outdoor Research, Clark Campbell, as president. For customers, the biggest change is its rebrand – all the various brands formerly under the McNett umbrella, including, Outgo, McNett Tactical, M Essentials, Aquaseal and Tenacious Tape, are now known as Gear Aid. The company sells products in 80 countries and partners with brands like REI, Patagonia and hundreds of others; Patagonia sells Tenacious Tape in its own custom shapes (think salmon and buffalo) and its own packaging, while other companies include the repair tape or other Gear Aid goodies with their outerwear, for example. Despite its ubiquity, its products didn’t have as much name recognition before the rebrand. The rebrand caused a temporary drop in sales, but with that out of the way, Gear Aid is once again ready to grow. Duane and Nancy McNett started the company in 1981 in New York. They originally imported and sold expensive rain gear for golfers. When they started getting requests for repair kits to fix the flexible rubber suits, they developed the precursor to Aquaseal, the company’s adhesive for repairing wetsuits, waders and other flexible water gear. The rain gear company they imported MountBakerExperience.com

from went out of business, so the McNetts changed course and developed more products around the Aquaseal formula. The McNetts dove into the world of scuba and from there discovered more and more channels for their products. “It basically became the standard for flexible repairs for outdoor gear,” said Sean Fields, current vice president of brand for Gear Aid. “Now the whole mentality of care and repair for outdoor gear and the broader umbrella started to come alive.” And as they entered new markets like hunting, boating and camping, it made sense to brand the products differently. Fields joined the company in 2015, just before Nancy and Duane McNett retired and sold the company to Coghlan’s LTD, Winnipeg-based makers of the classic camping cook set and other camping and outdoor accessories. That year, Field recommended the company rebrand itself, and the leadership agreed that it was time – customers were putting more emphasis on knowing the story and the history of brands. Gear Aid captures the company’s mission of caring for gear, so it was the logical choice to represent the whole line. Though rebranding made long-term sense, it came with some short-term penalties. Products became temporarily less searchable online. New names confused customers. Retailers stopped placing orders when they heard about the rebrand because they wanted to wait for the new stuff. “Now that we’ve gotten through that, we’re able to focus more. We’re no longer redoing packaging, we’re doing more brand pieces and engaging with our customers more and supporting our retailers,” Fields said. “We’re really starting to focus on how we grow.” Gear Aid is situated in one of the bigger buildings in a business park along Whatcom Creek. A warehouse for shipping and some manufacturing is connected to a workshop-like space for product development and a sparse, open office with a couch and an acoustic guitar nearby. A series of stories hangs on the wall, blueprints for a collection of videos about how customers use Gear Aid products. They aim to be part inspiration and part detail about how to make repairs or take care of gear. The company just produced a sturdy, pocket-sized field care guide with instructions for patching holes, repairing inflatables, fixing boots and more. When the company had multiple brands, these projects might have cost four times as much, Fields said, and marketing one brand wouldn’t necessarily help its other brands; now, a hiker who has a good experience using Tenacious Tape might recognize the name when shopping for waterproofing products. “The rebrand makes sense from a resource standpoint, from a brand voice standpoint, from a consumer standpoint – for people to be able to just understand that all these products come from one company,” Fields said. And for the most part, it’s working – people are recognizing the brand in a way they didn’t before, he said. “When people are starting to get stoked about your brand – specifically about your brand, not your company – that's the cool thing,” he said. “It starts to build that culture where it’s no longer this obscure company, it’s now a recognized brand in our community, in our industry and even globally.” For Gear Aid, the timing seems right: people are more aware of waste than ever, and as gear gets more expensive, more people are trying to repair their gear, Kennedy said. Patagonia and other outdoor giants are spreading a message of repair and reuse, or at least marketing that way. More than ever, patches are a sign of a well-loved piece of gear with an adventurous life, rather than a mark of thrift. “This coming year we’ll focus on telling more of our story, getting people engaged and educated about what we do and how to do it and really focusing on the DIYer that we all have in us,” Fields said. “Honestly, when people get stoked about how they’re able to repair something themselves, there’s an empowerment that happens.”

Sean Fields at Gear Aid’s office. Oliver Lazenby photo.

Right: Demonstrating Gear Aid’s sewing kit. Below: Gear Aid does its product development at its headquarters in Bellingham. Photos courtesy of Gear Aid.

SPRING 2020 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

Jake Merrill, pictured, raced in Ski to Sea several times with his friends in high school before tragically passing away in 2014. Photo courtesy of Mitch Lee .

Team Jake One local team makes SKI TO SEA a celebration of Jake Merrill’s life By Oliver Lazenby

ake Merrill, 23, died in an avalanche on February 11, 2014, while guiding a hut skiing trip in the Eagle Cap Wilderness, in northeast Oregon’s Wallowa Mountains. Merrill’s death hit a lot of people hard, both because of the circumstances – he was on his first trip as a paid guide after a years-long process of studying and internships – and because he impacted a lot of people in his short life. “You know how they say the good die young? That was the epitome of it,” said Mitch Lee, who grew up with Jake in Bellingham. The two became best friends after meeting on a middle school baseball team and remained friends through college at Western Washington University, where they both majored in recreation and lived together in Fairhaven. “The whole thing was hard. It was hard for a long time. Losing a best friend, there’s no easy way around that.” “Jake was always the dude that you wanted to be around. He was the nicest, most genuine guy. He was friends with everybody. He never seemed to say anything negative in any way,” Mitch said. After February 11, people close to Jake gathered to grieve. To Mitch and his brother Brandon Lee, who was also close with Jake, sorrow didn’t feel like the right way to honor the life of someone so infectiously positive. “We would always have these get-togethers where everyone would remember stories about Jake and start crying and I’d just look around and think, man, there’s no way in hell he’d want us to be doing this. He’d want us to be getting out and adventuring,” Mitch said. “So I was looking for a way to get everyone together but have it be a happy thing.” Mitch, Brandon and Jake had raced Ski to Sea, the annual multisport relay race from the Mt. Baker ski area to Bellingham Bay, several times in high school. Mitch rallied to start “Team Jake,” figuring that racing through the landscape Jake loved would be a way to remember him in a way he would have approved of. “When we first heard about the team’s efforts in 2014, we knew im-

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | SPRING 2020

mediately that it was an effort that Jake would love,” said his parents, Jill Heckathorn and Glenn Merrill, in an email. “If he were in their shoes, we knew and we believe the team knew, that he would be participating with everything he had. A perfect way to remember him.” Merrill always loved the outdoors and spent a lot of his adult life helping others experience the outdoors. He graduated from WWU with a degree in outdoor recreation, worked as a trip leader at WWU’s Outdoor Center and took incoming freshman on orientation trips, completed a NOLS mountaineering course in Alaska, worked as a ski instructor and had internships with North Cascade Mountain Guides and Baker Mountain Guides. Along the way, he had a lot of opportunities to make a difference to people, whether they were his mentors, other aspiring guides, or college students on their first backpacking trip. For many, Jake was unforgettable. “A lot of times people will be like, “Oh, yeah, I met him once and I remember him distinctly,” Brandon said. “The number of people he knew and the number of people he affected always blows my mind,” Mitch added. Getting the required (at the time) eight racers together to form a Ski to Sea team in a few months was easy. By sign-up deadline, Jake’s friends had formed two teams: Team Jake and Team Merrill finished within two minutes of each other. The experience was about more than the race. It was an excuse for a weekend-long celebration for Jake’s friends from near and far, and it also included Jake’s parents. Jill and Glenn hosted a pasta feed the night before Ski to Sea, followed the team during the race and came to the after party at Mitch’s house. “The first year was pretty emotional but at the same time I remember it clicked. I was like, this is the thing we can do that isn’t sad. This is the positive way for us get out and celebrate his name,” Mitch said. “His mom’s been like a second mom to me my whole life, and I remember she was like, “I don’t want this to stop. Two years down the road, I don’t want people to stop coming over.”

“He brought so many people together when we was alive and now, six years later, he’s still bringing us together.” –Brandon Lee. Photo courtesy of Mitch Lee

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Mitch Lee racing the downhill ski leg for Team Jake in the 2019 Ski to Sea. Burke Hovde photo/courtesy of Ski to Sea.

Burning a Christmas tree is traditional at the Team Jake after party. Photo courtesy of Mitch Lee.

Mitch didn’t want it to stop either. He didn’t set out to make racing with Team Jake an annual tradition, but every year since, enough other people have wanted to race in Jake’s name and year after year Mitch found he “couldn’t figure out a good reason to not do it again,” he said. He’s currently putting together the seventh annual Team Jake. Jake’s parents continue to host a pasta feed and follow the race, and they usually come to the party at Mitch’s house the night after, though they don’t always stay late for the Christmas tree burning, a tradition that started not because Jake burned his Christmas tree, but because that’s in the spirit of how he would go about life, Mitch said. Team Jake continues to bind Jake’s family and friends, and carry Jake’s legacy into the future. As he did in life, Jake is still bringing people together. “We have been so touched by some of his closest friends who continue to honor him each year, racing as Team Jake,” Jake’s parents said. “Although we are reminded regularly that Jake’s presence lives inside those who loved him and whom he loved, efforts like the Ski to Sea team remind us that he continues to matter in the world. That is a beautiful thing for us.”

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Thinking of buying or selling in the Foothills?

TRIVIA ANSWERS FROM PAGE 10

I can help you! 1. C. Dan Simmons wrote “The Abominable,” and if you’re a serious reader, you should drop everything and pick it up right now! 2. A. Schneiter climbed the Nose with her father and a friend over the course of five days. 3. D. Ascent Outdoors was originally named Second Bounce and started out in Seattle’s Fremont District. It was purchased and renamed Second Ascent. Eventually, the

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shop moved to Ballard, where it was again renamed. 4. B. Iranian climber Reza Alipour holds the speed climbing world record at 5.48 seconds. Many believe that it is nearly impossible to climb a speed wall in less than five seconds. 5. B. Etriers or aiders are used to assist climbers on terrain that cannot be freeclimbed easily. 6. D. Sherpas who operate as icefall doc-

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MT. BAKER 2020-2021 MAP FEATURING: Streets and Trails, Business Directory, Events and Useful Contacts

Mt. Baker Save Farmland for Farmers, Present and Future

Get your business on the NEW

2019 - 2020

VIEW MY LISTINGS: www.MartyK.JohnLScott.com

tors have one of the more dangerous jobs on Mt. Everest. They have to find a way through the icefall, fix lines and then keep the route open, even when massive ice towers collapse over the route. 7. D. The Legendary Banked Slalom was originally a different sort of race, and as such, it had a different sort of trophy – a golden roll of duct tape. 8. A. Chouinard Equipment became Black Diamond. Yvon Chouinard separately founded Patagonia in 1973. Both businesses were originally housed in the Great Pacific Ironworks building in Ventura, California. 9. B. Gaston Rébuffat, a member of the team that first climbed to the summit of Annapurna and one of history’s most respected mountain guides, rigged, did stunt work for, and directed many of the high alpine scenes in Third Man on the Mountain. 10. D. Governor Ernest Lister was the eighth governor of Washington state. He helped bring the eight-hour workday to the region and there’s a plaque for him next to crag’s trailhead. 11. B. The contour interval demarks the vertical distance between contour lines. An index line (or index contour) appears every fifth line in bold and usually denotes the line’s elevation. 12. A. At 20,564 feet, Chimborazo is the tallest mountain in the world as measured from the center of the Earth. In 1880, Edward Whymper claimed the first ascent of the mountain while traveling in the Andes to study the effects of altitude on the body.

WASHINGTON

MAP

PICK UP YOUR FREE COPY at Glacier Public Service Center and the following businesses and visitor centers or call Mount Baker Experience at 360-332-1777. ACME

GLACIER

Acme General Store Blue Mountain Grill

BELLINGHAM

Baker Bear Grocery Coldwell Banker Bain/ Bethnie Morrison John L. Scott/Marty Kutschbach Windermere/Julie Brown

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EVERSON

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Contact Chris Elder to learn about how to sell development rights or how to donate to protect the land that feeds us. Visit the webpage at www.whatcomcounty.us/573 (360)778-5932 or celder@whatcomcounty.us

KENDALL Hiking near Artist Point. Photo by Oliver Lazenby

Mount Baker

e perience MAGAZINE

www.MountBakerExperience.com

A special publication of The Northern Light Newspaper

Paradise Market

Chair 9 Woodstone Pizza & Bar Blue T Lodge Glacier Ski Shop Graham’s Historical Restaurant Luxury Getaways Mt. Baker Bibleway Camp Snowater Resort Condominiums Wake N Bakery Wild & Scenic River Tours

MAPLE FALLS

Crossroads Grocery & Video Mt. Baker Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center Mt. Baker Lodging Green Stop

SUMAS

Kelley Insurance Sumas Medical Clinic Sumas Chamber of Commerce Sumas Shipping & Storage Valley Plumbing & Electric

Want your business on the 2020 Map? Email: info@mountbakerexperience.com

or call Louise at 360/332-1777

PURCHASE OF DEVELOPMENT RIGHTS PROGRAM 44

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | SPRING 2020

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