TIDEPOOLING TONGUE POINT BAKERADAMSCIRCUMNAVIGATIONRIVERSOCKEYE ADVENTURES IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST FREE FALL 2022
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WASHINGTON BLAINE BLAINE WELCOME CENTER 546 Peace Portal Dr. I Blaine, WA I 360-332-4544 SECONDS OFF I-5, 276 AT THE US/CANADA BORDER Get all the details BlaineByTheSea.comat: DowntownBlaine The Party begins at noon Semiahmoo Resort - Golf - Spa A casual Northwest seaside resort, surrounded by the Salish Sea 9565 Semiahmoo Parkway • 360-318-2000 • semiahmoo.com Oysters from Drayton Harbor Oyster Co. BLAI N EBLAI N E H STREET PLAZA & PEACE PORTAL OCTOBEROCTOBERSaturdayDRIVE8Saturday8OYSTERSOYSTERSOYSTERSPLUS... GALORE ! H Live entertainment H Oyster cook off with area restaurants H Family & Kids activities on G Street Plaza! SHUCKING&SLURPINGCONTESTSSHUCKING&SLURPINGCONTESTSSTREETSTREETCRAFTCRAFTBEERSBEERSOYSTERFARMTOURSOYSTERVENDORSVENDORS Make it a weekend. Stay in Blaine!weekend. Stay in Blaine!
THE CIRCUMNAVIGATION PROJECT 360 degrees around Washington’s Peaks 15 8 NEWS Bear sightings and other happenings 20 CLEAR WEATHER, DARK SKIES Stargazing near Mt. Baker 22 GALLERY Fall colors and long sunsets 31 LOCAL LEGENDS Walking with the community 36 NW TUNE-UP First inaugural event 42 EATS AND SLEEPS Staying plump in Cascadia 43 37 YEARS Acme General Store celebrates Sue 44 EVENTS Year-end competitions TIDEPOOLING Braving the elements 18 33 ARCTIC GRAYLING A fish that doesn’t belong here SEHOME BOULDERING All the routes and crags WINGING IT New watersport to try 10 ADAMS RIVER SOCKEYE Every 4-year phenomenon 38 PUBLISHER’SNOTE
SHUKSAN Official Mascot of MountExperienceBaker
by Pat Grubb
It may have taken awhile to get underway but once summer 2022 arrived, it made up for lost time. While the North west may not have had heatwaves as extreme as in the rest of the continent, it was still plenty hot for people used to a cooler en vironment. In fact, people may be looking forward to the cooler days of fall that are just around the corner. If so, we have the pho tos and stories to help them get the most out of the season. For instance, take a look at Eric Lucas’s story and photos on the Adams River salmon run. Mil lions of spawning fish will return this year and it’s a spectacle that should not be missed. Fall is also one of the best times of the year for consistent wind — check out the new sport of Wing ing. It looks like a lot of fun... Perhaps you’re looking for in spiration? Jason Hummel circum navigated six of Washington’s ti tans, finishing off with Mt. Baker. There’s much, much more to see and read in this issue of the Mount Baker Experience. We hope you are filled with awe and inspiration.Haveagreat autumn!
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Jason is an outdoor adventure photogra pher based in Gig Harbor. He’s current ly working to ski every named glacier in Washington state. Find his stories and im agery at Jasonhummelphotography.com
Matthew is an adventure photographer with a passion for deep powder, alpine granite and not making it back to the trailhead until way after dark. Mtangeman.com MATTHEWTANGEMAN Eric is the author of the Michelin guide to Alaska. He lives on a small farm on San Juan Island, where he grows organic hay, garlic, apples and beans. Trailnot4sissies.com
Audra Lee Mercille is a Pacific North west-based freelance adventurer. She found photography as a way to display her love and gratitude for the mountains and landscapes that inspire her. Audraleephotography.com
ON THE COVER
JASONHUMMEL
EVANSKOCZENSKI Dave, avid alpinist, entrepreneur, business owner and hobby photographer lives in Seattle and Leavenworth with his family. His love of mountains began in Boulder and expanded to mountain ranges all over the world.
ERICLUCAS
SKYESCHILLHAMMER
TONYMOCERI
MARCUSPALADINO Brendan Morrison hiking Mt. McClausland, with Lake Valhalla in the background. MatthewTangeman photo One of the ski industry’s preeminent photog raphers, Grant has shot for every major snow sports and outdoor publication worldwide. Grantgunderson.com
On weekends Ian is either chasing waves, free diving or doing his best ‘snowboarder’ impres sion. During the week he daydreams at his day job about buying a van to drive to Mexico.... He doesn’t care how clichéd it sounds.
IANFERGUSON
Jason is the executive director at the Ameri can Alpine Institute, a mountain guide and a widely published outdoor writer. He lives in Bellingham with his wife and two kids.
DAVESUMMERS
Tony is a freelance writer who loves to get out and explore the world with his family. He shares his journey @adventurewithinreach and tonymoceri.com.
Luca Williams is a certified rolfer in Glacier. She helps snowboarders, skiers and other out door enthusiasts get aligned and out of pain. Website: lucasrolfing.com Blog: movingwithgravity.wordpress.com
NICKBELCASTER
AUDRA LEEMERCILLE
Evan Skoczenski is a lifestyle and landscape photographer born in Bellingham. He spends almost all his time chasing light and the next adventure.
GRANTGUNDERSON
6 MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2022 MountBakerExperience.com MOUNTEXPERIENCEBAKER Since 1986 Special publication of The Northern Light and All Point Bulletin PUBLISHERS Patrick Grubb and Louise Mugar EDITOR Ian Haupt PUBLICATION DESIGN Doug De Visser COPY EDITOR Grace McCarthy ADVERTISING DESIGN Ruth Lauman • Doug De Visser ADVERTISING SALES Gary Lee • Molly Ernst CONTRIBUTORS IN THIS ISSUE: Nick Belcaster, Ian Ferguson, Grant Gunderson, Jason Hummel, Eric Lucas, Dylan Luder, Madi McKay, Jason D. Martin, Audra Lee Mercille, Tony Moceri, Marcus Paladino, Skye Schillhammer, Evan Skoczenski, Dave Summers, Matthew Tangeman, Luca Williams 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 TheNorthernLight, All Point Bulletin, Pacific Coast Weddings, Waterside and area maps. Vol. XXXVI, No. 4. Printed in Canada. ©2022 POINT ROBERTS PRESS 225 Marine Drive, Blaine, WA 98230 TEL: 360/332-1777 EMAIL: info@mountbakerexperience.com WEB: www.mountbakerexperience.com FACEBOOK: facebook.com/mtbakerexperience TWITTER: twitter.com/MB_Experience INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/mtbakerexpNEXTISSUEWinter2022/2023Adsdue:November1 TIDEPOOLING TONGUE POINT BAKERADAMSCIRCUMNAVIGATIONRIVERSOCKEYE ADVENTURES IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST FREE FALL 2022 CONTRIBUTORS MBE FALL 2022
Based in Bellingham, Nick Belcaster is an adventure journalist who enjoys breaking a tree line, carrying as little as necessary and long walks across the country.
JASONMARTIN Marcus Paladino is a surf and outdoor pho tographer 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
LUCAWILLIAMS
Skye Schillhammer is a rider, photographer and cinematographer for Transition Bikes in Bellingham. When he’s not on assignment or on a bike, you can find him deep in the woods building trails and soaking in the PNW.
FALL 2022 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE 7
News continued on page 12
“There’s definitely, for all of us, some frustration in working for somebody else,” McGill said. A guiding collective was an op portunity to maximize their input and guide sustainably — maximize cartilage.
Mount Baker Experience is hosting a start of winter benefit for Northwest Ava lanche Center (NWAC) at Boundary Bay Brewery and Bistro Thursday, October 20. NWAC exists to increase avalanche
David Jones, game warden for Washing ton Department of Fish and Wildlife, said he was surprised June 17 when he got a report of a possible dead grizzly bear. “I’ve never seen a grizzly bear, dead or alive, in the wild,” Jones said. “This is super rare!”Jones responded to a beach near Cherry Point at the south end of Gulf Road to find a male grizzly bear carcass. He said it was about 250 pounds and a couple of years old. The area where it was found is a common spot to walk a dog, he said, close to a historic derelict conveyor.
Jones and a biologist from the Depart ment of Fish and Wildlife took DNA sam ples – head, hair follicles, five remaining claws – that were given to federal agencies to analyze. He said the lab work will probably take a month or two. Grizzly bears are classified as an endan gered species in Washington and are fed erally listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act. They once occupied much of the Cascades and eastern Washington, according to the fish and wild life website. A small, threatened population remains in the Selkirk Mountain Range in the northeast corner of the state.
Experts believe a dead grizzly bear that was found recently on a Cherry Point beach originated from Canada, but are still piecing together how it got there.
CMA officially launched in January and has been leading trips in the Baker back country and teaching glaciated ski moun taineering in the North Cascades, gym to crag climbing courses and AIARE avalanche courses — to name a few — since. Courses and trips are available to a widerange of ages and abilities and can be cus tomized. Itineraries of specific courses are available on their website. They will also be teaching avalanche course in the Olympic Mountains and leading trips in Alaska. “We’re just friends that like to get out and be in the hills together, and come home safe, and take other people out to do the same thing,” Young said. “Yeah, trying to make a life of “Yeah,it.”I like that,” Elges said. For more information, visit cascademoun tainascents.com.
Cascade Mountain Ascents (CMA) is a new-ish, worker-owned mountain guiding collective based in Bellingham. All previous workers of multiple guiding companies, Mike Elges, Zack McGill, Alyssa Young and Phil Straub decided last winter to take a piece for themselves and create a guiding service of their own. As a collec tive, they share the administrative work and guiding.Working for a guiding service, McGill said, guides don’t see most of the profits made from their efforts, or, as he put it, car tilage. The money made goes to the compa ny owner who holds the permit.
8 MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2022 MountBakerExperience.com Newsroom Notes big and small from around the region
Joe Scott, international programs director for nonprofit Conservation Northwest and a leading advocate for grizzlies in the North Cascades, said the bear’s death was unfortu nate.“Ihope this incident isn’t a bad omen,” Scott said. “Maybe we could get something positive started out of this.” He said he hoped President Joe Biden’s ad ministration will look at this as a reminder that grizzly bears once lived in Washington’s North Cascades and could again if proper recovery efforts were made. An environ mental impact statement (EIS) for the rein troduction of grizzly bears to the North Cas cades was abandoned in 2020 under former President Donald Trump’s administration.
NWACfundraiserBellinghamforOctober20
A 250-pound dead grizzly bear was found on a beach near Cherry Point June 17 that experts believe came from Canada. David Jones/ Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife photo
Jones said the department will communi cate with Canadian experts about local pop ulations once the lab work is complete. He suspects the bear came from Canada. About 15,000 grizzlies were in B.C. in 2018, according to the B.C. Ministry of For ests’ grizzly bear population report. But it was estimated no bears were on Vancouver Island in 2018, and just one to 10 bears per 1,000 square kilometers were known to be in the southeast corner of mainland B.C. Jones said backtracking through past cur rent and tides data may lead to a possible place of origin, “but it will likely always re main a mystery,” he said. Scott said he was positive the bear came from Canada. He said while there aren’t grizzly bears in Washington’s North Cas cades, they are nearby. He said it’s possible a bear could have died or been killed in the waters off of Squamish, B.C. and was carried by the ocean to Whatcom County. There is a chance of pinpointing where it came from if a DNA match is found, he said.
Grizzly bear carcass washes up on Cherry Point beach
New guidingBellinghamcollectivereadyforupcomingseason
Young said there are two other work er-owned guiding collectives/cooperatives in the U.S. While the model is new in the guiding industry, it’s not new in a town like Bellingham, which has become a hub for worker ownership and democratic work places. They have transferred those values to CMA, she said.
awareness, reduce avalanche impacts, and equip the community with mountain weather and avalanche forecasts, educa tion, and data, according to its website. Supporting avalanche awareness in the Pacific Northwest, the fundraiser will feature retor Warren Miller ski films and a raffle with adventure gear from local sponsors. All proceeds go to NWAC. For more information on NWAC, go to nwac.us.
“It’s not unusual that it happened,” Scott said. “It’s unusual it ended up here.” Zack McGill (l.), Phil Straub, Alyssa Young and Mike Elges of Cascade Mountain Ascents. Cascade Mountain Ascents photos
Hailing from Colorado, northern Califor nia and New England, they said they came to Washington to ski glaciers and the di verse, rugged terrain of the North Cascades. They also saw it fit enough to call home. “I feel like the more you love a place,” Young said, “the more exciting it is to share really, really well.”
Trained under the American Mountain Guides Association, some of the CMA founders have been guiding for over 10 years. Guiding’s romantic, Elges said, with its travel, risk of danger and long-stints in the backcountry. But it can be a financial burden and make it difficult to sustain rela tionships. He said after a while it becomes time to raise a family.
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10 MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2022 MountBakerExperience.com
The board, which looks like a small paddleboard, has a mast that goes down to essentially a glider under the wa ter with a front and rear wing attached by a fuselage. This design allows the rider’s board, powered by the wind, to completely rise above the water with only the mast show ing while the magic happens below the surface.
I
f there is one thing that stays constant in our corner of the world, it’s that if there is a new way to recreate, we will have some early adopters. From the moun tains to the bays, we embrace all the ways in which one can play in Mother Nature. These are often in obscure ways that may or may not one day become main stream. Lately, I have been hearing more and more about the sport of wing foiling and had even randomly bumped into someone heading out for a session at Marine Park in Fairhaven.Ihavewatched and tried many board sports on snow, land and water but never have I seen a sport where it looks as though the people are actually flying. With their wing and hydrofoil, those who know how to harness the wind, and ride the board, can be seen hovering above our waterways. When you first witness the spectacle, they seem to defy the laws of gravity. However, what is actually happening is a bunch of science underneath the water.
To get the low down on this growing sport, I chatted with Riley Jones, the winging instructor at Kite Paddle Surf in Bellingham. Scheduling our talk around the wind, Jones filled me in on this board sport that has people braving the cold water and often bad weather to experi ence the fun of gliding above the water. Winging has a relatively low barrier of entry as all one needs is the hydrofoil, the inflatable wing, water and wind. A background in wind sports is helpful, as is some experience on a board, but neither is required. Winging is less intimidating and safer than kiteboarding because of the wing replacing the kite. No kite flying learning curve, no possibility of being dragged out to the San Juans. Beginners are recommended to start on a paddleboard with a keel to focus on learning to use the wing. The sec ond hurdle is getting used to the foil. Getting the oppor tunity to do this behind a boat can be helpful but is not necessary. Jones says that while there is a learning curve, it is easy to learn and safe to do. A failed attempt at riding the board results in a low-impact fall into the water. Locally the sport is slowly growing, but there are still relatively few people in the winging community. While the Pacific Northwest is an excellent spot for winging, the elements can deter those looking for a new hobby. A windy day in the summer can create dream-winging con ditions, but this year-round sport has its best months in the fall and winter when the wind is more consistent. In our area, that means wearing a full-body wet suit, includ ing gloves and booties. Time in the water is inevitable so being well prepared for the chilly water is a must. While winging can be done on pretty much any body of water that is deep enough, in our area, the consistent wind is in the bays where even in the summer, the water stays cold. In Whatcom County, the popular spots to go winging are off the shores of Marine Park, Squalicum Beach and Locust Beach. The wind is typically blowing from the south, and riders, especially new ones, want to have the wind blowing them toward the shore. Other regional winging spots are Jetty Island, Whidbey Island and Hood River — the latter being a wind sports mecca. When first researching the sport, like anything new, it can be overwhelming, but in general, a new rider will want a larger board, 1,700-2,000 square centimeters, which allows for more control. As one improves at the sport, smaller boards allow for more maneuverability. Wings also come in varying sizes; for our local wind, a five to six square meter wing works well. There are endless amounts of information about wing foiling online, and packages with everything you need can easily be purchased, but as with all outdoor sports, it is important to understand what you are getting yourself into. Understanding the weather and having the proper gear for safety is critically important to prevent being caught in an unsafe situation. Starting with a local rider, shop or instructor can get you started down the right path so that you can soon be the envy of onlookers as you fly across the waters. x
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“Keep stuff clean; run a tight ship,” Jones said. “All it takes is a couple of people not keeping their area tidy.” In general bears avoid people, but they’re naturally curious animals. If a bear walks toward you, WDFW officials recommend identifying yourself as a human by standing up, waving your hands above your head and talking in a low voice. Back away, avoid, direct eye contact, and don’t run from a bear. WDFW recommends making noise and leashing pets while hik ing. Be aware of your surroundings as to not accidentally startle a bear. While recreating, WDFW recom mends carrying bear spray that is readily accessible and knowing how to use it. More information on how to use bear spray is available on WDFW's blog.
Black bear in North Cascades National Park. Andy Porter photo, from
JulyAround29 8 p.m. July 29, Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office (WCSO) deputies responded to a report of an individual who fell over the falls and was possibly swept down stream, WCSO spokesperson Deb Slater wrote in an August 2 press release. Witnesses reported seeing an individual clinging to a hillside near the falls and thought the in dividual had fallen into the rapids. Deputies located a vehicle be lieved to belong to the person and were able to identify the person through documents found inside, Slater wrote. Due to the rapid’s
Local kayakers affiliated with Gla cier Fire and Rescue found the one body at 7:30 p.m. submerged in a log jam about half a mile from where the raft flipped. Search operations were suspended at dusk and resumed the 4 Discover Pass-free days left in 2022
“We are extremely thankful that the victim is recovering and re ceiving medical care from this un fortunate encounter,” said captain Jennifer Maurstad, WDFW Police North Puget Sound. “He did ev erything right during the incident and we wish him a speedy recov ery. Wild animal encounters are unpredictable but, in most cases, they wish to avoid conflict as much as we WDFWdo.”
Black bear killed after attacking trail runner near north Lake Whatcom A man jogging on a trail north of Lake Whatcom was attacked by a black bear August 3. According to a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) press release, the jogger sustained non-life-threaten ing injuries, and the bear was killed later that WDFWevening.received a report around 8:30 a.m. August 3 of a human-black bear incident that occurred near Y Road Trail to Stewart Mountain north of Lake Whatcom. According to WDFW, the man involved sustained mul tiple injuries to his hands and feet. He was taken to an area hospital for medical treatment and released lat er that afternoon.
The holidays some of the free days commemorate include former chair of the Northwest Indian Fisheries Commission Billy Frank Jr.’s birth day on March 9, Juneteenth on June 19, and World Mental Health Day on October 10. Many of the free days honor marginalized peoples and their histories, such as Indige nous and Black communities.
• Saturday, Sept. 24 – National Public Lands Day
The free days also recognize the importance of mental health and the ways nature can heal those who are suffering. Studies worldwide show time spent in nature increas es serotonin and decreases corti sol levels, along with many other health benefits, according to a WSP press release.
photo
“We’re using your hard earned money to help keep Baker fun … support our employees, help pre pare for the future and make sure that this place remains viable so that we all can continue to enjoy it for years to come,” Howat said. file North Fork of Nooksack Mugar
following morning. CBP helicopter spotted the body of the missing body downriver of the Highway 542 bridge west of Glacier at 3:45 p.m. June 15. According to the Whatcom County Medical Examiner’s Office, the cause of death of the first body was determined to be drowning, and it is believed the second body drowned as well but has not yet been determined. Slater said nei ther had any signs of trauma. Both were wearing wetsuits, hel mets and lifejackets, she said. According to the American Whitewater accident database, which lists reported river incidents since 1956, the accident was only the second fatal incident involving a commercial rafting company on the Nooksack. A 13-year-old Seattle area youth group member report edly was washed under a raft after it hit a rock on the river in July 2001. Three other fatal incidents involving private vessels were listed. The database lists 11 total fatal commercial whitewater incidents on Washington rivers since 1994, which averages to about one every two-and-half years. is $1,942.92 after tax for adults 23 years old and older and $1,316.52 for young adults. The Ikon Pass, which offers un limited access to 14 mountains and up to seven days at 35 destinations, is Howat$1,179. said diesel prices have nearly doubled in the last year and, in the last couple of years, the ski resort’s employee wage costs have increased by $1 million made pric ing for the upcoming season more challenging than years past.
Newsroom Continued from page 8
“We are grateful that this incident ended in survival,” said Whatcom County Sheriff Bill Elfo. “I would like to extend my appreciation to all of the agencies and individuals who assisted in this rescue, par ticularly the team from Naval Air Station Whidbey whose incredible skills and bravery made this suc cessful outcome possible.”
“[These free day additions are] a reflection of the state’s continued progress and commitment toward creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive experience for all who recreate in Washington’s great outdoors,” said John Scott, WSP di versity, equity and inclusion direc tor, in a statement.
• Friday, November 11 – Veter ans Day
In 2022, the upcoming Discover Pass free days are:
• Friday, November 25 – Native American Heritage Day Discover Passes typically cost $30 to $35 per year or about $10 for a one-day visit.
Baker passes see 20 percent increase Mt. Baker Ski Area season passes and ticket prices have been released, and to locals might look steep. Season passes for returning pass holders, which go on sale September 7, are $1,030.32 after tax for adults. A full day adult lift ticket is $94. For new adult passholders, whose pur chase window begins October 1 and goes until the sales cap is reached, passes are $1,123.20 this year. CEO Gwyn Howat said in an Au gust 2022 update that high diesel prices, increased wage costs and raised property insurance were some of the many factors in deter mining the 2022/23 season’s pricing. The added factors have increased season pass prices by 20 percent and lift tickets by 14 percent. Last year, adult season passes were $849.96 for returners and $936.36 for new, while daily lift tickets were $82.50 after tax for adults.
Washington State Parks (WSP) has four free days left in 2022 where a Discover Pass is not re quired to park at state parks and on recreation lands managed by the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW).
Fire personnel and U.S. Border Patrol agents also responded.
12 MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2022 MountBakerExperience.com
officers lethally removed an adult black bear in the evening of August 3 near where the inci dent occurred, according to the August 4 press release. Officers used Karelian bear dogs to locate theWhatcombear. County game warden David Jones said WDFW is at tempting to trap what is believed to be the bear’s two cubs. WDFW received multiple reports in recent weeks of a sow with two cubs in the area.Jones said the bear that was killed was a 5- to 6-year-old sow between 200 and 225 pounds. He said, un fortunately, it’s standard protocol to euthanize a bear after an inci dent with a human. WDFW policy on response to dangerous wildlife complaints states a WDFW enforcement offi cer must respond immediately to any cougar or black bear attack on a human to euthanize the offend ing animal and submit tissue sam ples for rabies testing. This was the first he’s been in volved in during his 15plus years working in Whatcom County, Jones said. The only fatal black bear attack recorded in Washington state was in 1974, the release said. State au thorities have recorded 18 encoun ters that resulted in human injuries since 1970. The last was in 2015. The bears were staying in an area off of Y Road that had strewn garbage, which he said was a food source for them. He said the best thing people can do to prevent future encounters is keeping their property and surrounding areas clean. Make sure garbage and food waste is secured in its respective bin and pick up any strewn waste.
“We don’t take it lightly that these prices have an impact on you,” Howat said in the video. To compare with other, neigh boring mountains, Stevens Pass and Crystal Mountain will run on reservations again this season. The Epic Pass, which offers access to Stevens, Vail, Breckenridge, Park City, Whistler Blackcomb and others, is currently $859, but will go up September 5. At Crystal, the anytime legend pass, which offers access to the mountain anytime, Father and son killed in NooksackaccidentraftingonRiver
A commercially operated river raft carrying four customers and one guide flipped over in a rapid on the North Fork of the Nooksack River June 14. A 55-year-old man and his 10-year-old son died. The raft overturned around 3 p.m. June 14 in the Nooksack near the Snowline neighborhood in Glacier, Whatcom County Sher iff’s Office (WCSO) spokesperson Deb Slater said. The Wild & Scenic River Tours guide was able to save two women, but the father and son were swept downstream. WCSO deputies dispatched Summit to Sound swift water res cue technicians, K-9 and drone operators. Border Patrol Search, Trauma and Rescue (BORSTAR) and a Customs and Border Protec tion (CBP) helicopter responded. Records show the guide told res cuers that he lost sight of the man and boy after the raft flipped but believed they made it to shore.
River. Louise
A Navy helicopter rescued a per son who fell over Nooksack Falls
• Monday, October 10 – World Mental Health Day
Person rescued after falling over Nooksack Falls and clinging to hillside
dangerous conditions, deputies re quested assistance from Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI) Search and Rescue Air and Marine who responded with a helicopter to find the Nooksackindividual.Falls, east of Glacier and south of Mount Baker High way, drops 88 feet into the North Fork of the Nooksack River.
The NASWI team found the in dividual, conscious and breathing, and hoisted them out from the can yon, the release said. The individu al was transported to PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center and treated for external injuries.
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14 MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2022 MountBakerExperience.com Mt Baker Visitors Center Free Maps & Area Information Open Daily 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Maple Falls corner of Mt. Baker Hwy. and Silver Lake Rd. 360-599-1518 • www.mtbakerchamber.org Recreational Passes Available Here! ANNUAL & DAILY Behind The Heliotrope • Open Everyday Fresh Baked Goods Strictly Organic Coffee & Glacier,EspressoWA DAILY FRESH BAKED GOODS, SANDWICHES & TAKE-N-BAKE PIZZA Always a good selection of locally produced • Craft Beer & Ciders • Mountain Meat Rub • Mama’s Garden Beef, Eggs & Maple Syrup • Giftware by Local Artisans OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK! HWY 9, ACME • 360-595-2146 Call today to learn about the unique real estate opportunities in the Mount Baker foothills area!bethniemorrison@cbbain.com360.303.4272JEFFANDBETHNIEMORRISON jeffmorrison@cbbain.com360.303.0218 • Gluten free products • Vitamins & Herbal Supplements • International foods • Bulk Foods • Hardware • USFS Passes • Fishing Tackle • Fresh organic produce & organic dairy items • Best beer & wine selection east of Bellingham MONTHLY GROCERY SPECIALS! ItemsOrganicNEWEveryWeek! THE BEER CAVE Overkinds200 of COLD BEER to choose from! eWIC, EBT & Quest Accepted Check out our merchandise from local artists OPEN SUN. - WED. 7AM-8PM & THURS. - SAT. 7AM-9PM At the crossroads of Mt. Baker Highway & Silver Lake Rd. 7802 Silver Lake Road in Maple Falls 360-599-9657 MT SOUVENIRSBAKER INCLUDINGSWEATSHIRTST-SHIRTS NEW Glacier360-599-1943Ski Shop 9966 Mt. Baker Hwy • Glacier • GlacierSkiShop.com Best Rates RENTALS Downhill • Tele • X-C • AT • Snowboards • Snowshoes VoTeD BeST t une s hop Binding Mounts • Hotwax • Ski & Board Tunes BEST RENTAL RATES SEASON RENTALS Downhill • Tele • X-C • Snowboards • Snowshoes TUNE SHOP VOTED BEST EVER! Binding Mounts • Hotwax • Custom Boot Fitting
One of the early mountaineering groups in the Pacific Northwest, established in 1906, is The Mountaineers. Similar groups like the Oregon Alpine Club, Cascadians, Sherpas, Ma zamas and others set off a boom in mountaineering in the early 1900s. For The Mountaineers part, where it relates to my project, they had a pin they’d present to the mountaineers who had accomplished what they called the Big 6. Its objective was ascents of the aforementioned peaks, all on club-sponsored trips (not independent climbs). When it comes to just the five volcanoes, Charles E. Forsyth is the earliest known person to complete ascents of each, finishing in 1910. When it comes to Washington’s six major peaks, a woman, Helen Winona Bailey (1873-1938), accomplished this feat in 1917. So far as can be proven, she is the earliest to do so. Skip forward to 1921, and The Mountaineers write that there are 17 graduates who received the six-peaker pin, eight of whom were women. As far as ski circumnavigations go, such as I was contemplating, the history is primarily relegated to the last 50 years. There’s one exception, though. Another early Mountaineer club member, Ben (Benton) Thompson, along with Don Henry and Darroch Crookes, attempt ed a ski circumnavigation of Mt. Baker in 1932. As told in the 1941 Mountaineers Annual, they went from Mt. Baker Lodge and “... traveled past Camp Kizer the first day and camped that night at the junction of the Mazama and Rainbow glaciers. Next day it was snowing a little and the weather looked bad, but in spite of this they made the summit of the peak and camped that night in the crater, making good use of one of the fumaroles for cooking dinner ... from the cabin (Kulshan) they camped on Thunder Glacier, having had some wonderful spring skiing snow, and the second night was spent near Easton Glacier. Next day they antici pated making the rest of the trip to Mount Baker Lodge, a long distance involving the crossing of the Easton, Boulder, Park and Rainbow glaciers. A sudden violent thunder and lightning storm defeated this project and drove them down to timber on the south side of the moun tain, from whence they reached civilization again by way of the Nooksack River.” It wouldn’t be until 2003 that the first known and complete ski circuit of Mt. Baker would take place. Ski circumnavigations of the others were first completed on St. Helens in 1984, Rainier in 1986, Adams in 2008, Glacier Peak in 2017 and Olympus in 2018, as Alpenglow. org reports. I headed out for Baker in the middle of 2022.
Frothing clouds churned up from the green valleys and washed over me that evening.
Present means now and gift. It’s easy to forget that. Easy to lose track of the now. But now is a gift ready to be unwrapped over and again, countless times in a life. This is why after spend ing most of a month laid up with Covid-19 for the first time, I was ecstatic to get outdoors with just the moment, the mountain and me. As I drove north on Interstate 5, my self-prescribed cure to my woes of traffic were views of Mt. Baker. Rain clouds dominated and submerged its snowy mantle from view. I was re minded of my first attempt to circumnavigate Mt. Baker with Colton Jacobs. Icy snow and a night of wind failed to inspire, weather shenanigans that seemed destined to repeat on this goAaround. daylater I sat in my RV with my eyes burrowing into the gray wall. Rain slapped my windshield, adding a pathetic drumroll to my arrival. An updated forecast I’d loaded before going out of coverage harmonized my mood. So appropriate that this would happen. A sea son of weather rollercoasters that rivaled any I’d endured in my life. Good weather slips out of reach with every update.
The knowledge of a mountain, the true understanding of where it is rooted in the earth is not found in a line to the top. Visit one of the great trees of the world and al most every person will walk all the way around it, stare high into the branches and wonder at its aged bark and healed over scars. So too does the mountain inspire all to see its many facets and every side. For this reason, The Circumnavigation Project was born. Among Washington state’s Volcanic Court are five great volcanoes, the titans of the Cas cades: Mt. Rainier, Mt. Adams, Mt. Baker, Glacier Peak and Mt. St. Helens. Where each volca no can be viewed as representing a portion of Washington state’s mountainous regions, there’s a hole in that logic. On the northwestern peninsula, estranged from the greater 700-mile Cas cadian chain and lacking any volcanoes are the Olympic Mountains. Where it doesn’t come up short is in moss and glaciers; they are found in equal amounts among a sea of primordial forests and serrated peaks. Towering above this kingdom of green is its Titan, Mt. Olympus. While it may not blow its top every hundred or a thousand years, it is a companion in spirit, if not in nature. For this reason, I added it to my circumnavigation project, making six peaks in all.
FALL 2022 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE 15
THE CIRCUMNAVIGATION PROJECT
360 Degrees
JULY 16, 2022: SCOTT PAUL TRAIL TO SQUAK GLACIER
Hummel finishes The Circumnavigation Project on Mt. Baker Story and photos by Jason Hummel
In a second, my universe shrank to my tent and surrounding rocks. Then, as sleep gripped me, my world shrank to nothing.
Mt. Adams (12,276') Circumnavigation, June 13-15, 2008 Glacier Peak (10,541') Circumnavigation, June 22-28, 2017 Mt. St. Helens (8,364') Circumnavigation, March 12, 2018 Mt. Rainier (14,410') Circumnavigation, April 23-25, 2018 Mt. Olympus (7,980') Circumnavigation, May 25-June 1, 2018 Mt. Baker (10,781') Circumnavigation, July 16-18, 2022
As a teenager I remember looking at forecasts in the local paper. Their dependence was laughable as far as mountains were concerned. The rule then: Go and see. A light raincoat was exchanged for a heavy one, a grimace for a smile and hesitation for choice. Onboard the Jason Hummel Express, my pack and I ground our way up the Scott Paul Trail, Covid lungs howl ing and spittle flying. Mountains and molehills, it’s all per spective. Iwasentertained by the surreal green of the surround ing foliage until it was folded under white snow (~4,500'). Mother Nature exchanged a few clouds for blue sky, an in vestment I was all for. Timing is everything, and so I pitched my tent in a volcanic field. Like fresh water, the skier should never bypass a dry camp if they can avoid it. The remaining hour or two before dark was spent watch ing light dance on the Squak Glacier. These icy harbingers of winters’ past are my muse, so to speak. Their history and tales are fascinating to me. When Edmund T. Coleman (1824-1892) and party ascended Mt. Baker in 1868, Cole man wrote, “The day passed by, and we were anxiously con cerned in regard to Squock and Talum; but they returned late in the evening, and reported that they had reached a spot above the snow line by a path that was comparatively easy to find. They brought in a couple of marmots, which they demolished at supper.” Both glaciers, as far as I can ascertain, were named in the early 1970s by Austin Post, a glaciologist and aerial photog rapher. He did so to commemorate the two native guides that made Coleman’s ascent possible. Frothing clouds churned up from the green valleys and washed over me that evening. In a second, my universe shrank to my tent and surrounding rocks. Then, as sleep gripped me, my world shrank to nothing.
JULY 16, 2022: SQUAK GLACIER TO ROOSEVELT AND RAINBOW GLACIER COL I left camp around 10:30 a.m. Only by then had the rain let up and the clouds peeled open enough for me to see. I’d con sidered making one long day out of this mission, returning to camp, but the weather forced my hand. Being solo, I lean toward being as conservative and flexible. With my big pack and all my gear, I left people and any easy retreat behind. Before long, I reached Crag View and descended Talum Glacier to a spine of rocks. I crossed at 6,000 feet and skied onto the Boulder Glacier, whose sight never fails to impress me. Like the Avalanche Glacier on Mt. Adams, the Boulder Glacier has irregular, but historically frequent avalanches of a catastrophic nature that scour the mountain every two to 10 years. Fumaroles in the Sherman Crater destabilize the snowpack. Also impressive is the sheer amount of crevasses. Like the Emmons Glacier on Mt. Rainier, it is riddled with them. Atthe Boulder Park Cleaver, I stopped and pondered its first ascent in 1891, a climb made by Susan L. Nevin Ewing (1870-1914) and party. I’ve included a portion of Ewing’s words from a September 2, 1891 News Tribune article below, as well as a photograph of the group taken by her brother in law, James Orville Booen (1864-1934). Unlike much of the world beyond where this photo was taken, little has changed in this terrain in 131 years since their visit. What other views I may have had turned myopic. Clouds wrapped around me, cloying me in a heavy wet that began
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JULY 17, 2022: RAINBOW/ROOSEVELT COL TO TRAILHEAD Come morning, I opened the tent and awoke to my ear lier dreams made reality: Blue skies and sun. Low clouds once again hung over the valleys. Above me stark white clouds called lenticulars flowed over the summit, so per fect they seemed fake. With camera in hand, I was lost for hours. What is the parable? When there’s nothing to do, there’s everything to gain? Eventually I rounded up my things and turned skis downslope. I glided halfway across the Coleman Glacier and then climbed to Colfax Saddle (~9,000'). A road wash out blocked people from the Coleman–Deming route. As such I was left alone with 359 degrees of the mountain to myself. Myskis ran across the Easton Glacier and flew over cracks, and my mind ran over the previous trips I’d taken as part of The Circumnavigation Project. So much adven ture, so much now, so many gifts that keep on giving even all these years later. Not even the bugs, the boulder hopping down the toe of the glacier nor the sudden shock of dozens of tourists could wipe away my smile. I said hello to every one, and rolled down the trail like the raindrops I’d spent so much of my time with. At my RV, beer in hand, I sat on my steps, satisfied. Skiing has allowed me a form of expression, as it has in photogra phy, neither of which I could live without. If all the lines I’d traveled were seen on a map, it’d appear as if a kid scribbled across the paper, but if you stared close enough you’d find that they weren’t scribbles at all, but words and stories too small to make out from afar. x
FALL 2022 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE 17 to ease only as I reached the far end of the Park Glacier. Along my way, sightless, I often arrived at a crevasse only to chase it up or down one end or another, like some blind mouse in a Lowhungmaze. clouds rolled off the sea and crashed against the mountains. Withcopious amounts of side stepping, and a short boot pack, I skied to the col between Roosevelt and Mazama Glaciers. In a rockfield I discovered a dry camp, and none too soon. Between squalls of rain, the mountain presented itself for exactly two minutes. With no time but the present, I ran around, a wildman leaping from boulders to snow trying to catch every angle and shift of light and mood. Photographs and poetry say a lot with a little. I waited for inspiration because mountain time is much preferred to sleeping, even when rain refuses to let up. You can watch Mother Nature curl up the clouds, puff out flames of red and yellow, and fire ballistae of shooting stars — but for waking eyes only. None of this was for me, not on this night. Rain was cast down from the heavens, thunder rattled my ears and lightning speared my hopes of better weather in the morning. Silently dreams overshadowed all my worries.
Story and photos by Nick Belcaster
Fish
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This is a story about a fish that shouldn’t be here. Maybe the grayling hears me, because it shudders in my hand as I cradle it in the lake. This part of fishing always feels the most guilty — the shy turning over in a wet palm; watching the light play across this thing the water grew. It’s a tender weighing of scales. Thymallus arcticus — the Arctic grayling. A fish that by most accounts has no natural right to be in this lake, at least not in a traditional sense. Grayling enjoy a holarctic distribution, encircling the Northern Hemisphere in the near-arctic climes of Alaska, Russia and northern Europe. Here, below the 49th parallel, is a long way from home. It is, however, one of the most stunning fish I have ever laid eyes on. A relative of salmon and trout, grayling are pewter-colored torpedoes, shimmering with the polish of metal and equipped with their most distinctive trait: A large, sail-like dorsal fin painted in the irides cence of a tropical butterfly wing. It is a small miracle to be attached to one at the other end of a line. It is another to land them in a net. But hang around enough old salts, and eventually they’ll start to let their secrets slip. This is how I catch wind of this difficult to access lake high in the North Cascades — a hanging glacial scoop of granite and snowmelt, guarded by a bushwhack that only gets worse the more times the story is told, and the unique fish that were said to hold on here.
18 MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2022 MountBakerExperience.com
The holdout Arctic grayling of the North Cascades
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In early July of 1981, a University of Washington (UW) graduate student by the name of David A. Beauchamp likely stood near enough the same spot, knee deep, wondering how it was that these beautiful fish were sustaining themselves all the way up here. Grayling generally require clear, cold water to thrive in, with a further requirement of a gravel or sand-bottomed feeder stream for them to spawn in. It’s something that Beauchamp would have known well, as he would later write about in his thesis on grayling spawning
FALL 2022 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE 19 Grayling, they mused — big fins on ‘em. Like in Alaska. It’s what many fisherfolk in the Lower 48 might call an exotic catch, which was likely the idea. Washington state, and indeed many western states have a long history of bending the natural order and stocking fish for recreational fishing, including grayling. Yosemite National Park even had its own ‘Grayling Lake’ stocked for four consecutive years. But here in Washington, where numerous attempts at establishing grayling have been made, only one lake today is said to support a sustaining population.Andit’sthe one I’ve found myself knee deep in, watching as the proof darts off.
“Really the fun one is when you get kids or even adults that haven’t been able to have that opportunity,” Katsinis said. “Then you’ll explain to them how astronomy works and how the planet rotates and what's visible from land … it’s very re warding for most of the group and people that come down.”
O
Clear Weather,Dark Skies Stargazing the Baker way
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RECOMMENDED STARGAZING SPOTS: Artist Point: A classic — Whatcom Association of Celes tial Observers regularly host star parties at Artist Point, at the end of Highway 542, and sometimes down at Heather Meadows to avoid crowds. Artist Point has an exceptionally dark sky, and considering how easy it is to get to, it’s the WA COs favorite.
But even that can be a long way to travel if stargazing reg ularly, so they hold telescope events closer to town as well.
Katsinis said the number of telescopes at their events range from three to 10, all with a wide range of viewing capabili ties. He said at the last Telescopes in the Park they had three community members bring their own telescopes to ask help from members on how to use them. For those looking to get involved, or do some stargazing of their own, Katsinis said good viewing is upon us. Inter national Observe the Moon Night is Saturday, October 1.
Story by Ian Haupt |
Photos by Andy Porter
The group has partnered with Whatcom County Library System to host telescope viewing nights at the Blaine and Lynden branches. Those began over the summer. They also host monthly Telescopes in the Park nights in a variety of locations, most recently at Boulevard Park. Members bring their telescopes to share with others to view and learn about stars, planets and interstellar forma tions together. Katsinis said they often rely on foot traffic at those events. The group welcomes newcomers and is pleased to share their telescopes and passion with others.
WACO will be celebrating at Zuanich Point Park. Planets also start to come up from the horizon in the fall, he said. Saturn, Jupiter and Mars come up around 10 p.m. this time of year. He also said the Orion Nebula off of the Milky Way is fascinating target.
n a clear night in North Cascades National Park, one can see nearly 3,000 stars, accord ing to park service research. Author and as tronomer Bob Berman figures an observer has to be able to see about 450 stars to appre ciate the night sky. In other words, here in the Pacific North west, we have access to wonderful stargazing. But with Vancouver and Seattle so close, the North Cas cades aren’t immune to light pollution and many other plac es in the West are darker. If willing to travel, darker skies can be found in east-central Oregon, Idaho, Death Valley, parts of southeastern Utah and Arizona, according to lightpollu tionmap.info.WhatcomAssociation of Celestial Observers (WACO) president Justin Katsinis said, for Whatcom County resi dents, Artist Point is the spot to go. Astronomers and en thusiasts will travel east on Highway 20 to get to darker skies but Artist Point has the most accessible dark sky with a large horizon in the area. Sometimes meeting at Heather Meadows to avoid crowds, WACO runs observation nights at the end of Highway 542.
“As far as astronomy goes, winter is a great time to get out and look,” Katsinis said. “It does get cold, and cloudy and rainy, but we usually get some really clear skies, and there’s a lot of good stuff. Especially when there’s no moon.”
Diablo Dam Overlook: The darkest of three spots the National Park Service’s Night Sky Team measured in 2012, this easy-to-reach viewpoint is just off Highway 20 in North Cas cades National Park. Hidden Lake Peak and a spot near Cutthroat Pass were slightly brighter.
through telescopes. Check their Facebook page at bit.ly/3PS3FwP for dates and location. x Oliver Lazenby contributed to this story through previous reporting. CARDS candy & toys villagebooks.com430FrontSt.,Lynden, WA Waples Mercantile Building Bellingham & Lynden, WA BOOKS, GUIDES, ATTIRE Decor, Cards, Candy, Toys LOCAL GIFTS GALORE! Enjoy author readings and so much villagebooks.commore. 1200 11th St, Bellingham, WA Historic Fairhaven • 360.671.2626 — open daily — 430 Front St, Lynden, WA Downtown • 360.526.2133 Divorce/Parenting • Eldercare • Marital • Land Use • Contracts • Employment Voted Best Mediation Services in Bellingham! HTRONFORKMICHELADASBREKFAST Breakfast & Lunch Thursday - Monday 7am - 2pm A Bellingham Institution Since 1998 • Home-style Cooking! • Order online for Take Out & Delivery! • Follow us on Facebook & Instagram North On-Tap!BreweryForkBeer (Fill-up growler!)your 2400 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA (360) 734-8687 • diamondjimsgrill.com 1900 Grant Street • Bellingham, WA (360) 224-2088 • 21+ northforkbrewery.com/the-barrel-houseOnly Visit Our New Taproom in Bellingham!
McDonald Park: Designated a Dark Sky Park by the city of Abbotsford, B.C., McDonald Park is another location that shines more for its convenience than for exceptional darkness. The park is between Abbotsford and Chilliwack and about an hour from downtown Vancou ver. in the Park: Every month and weather permitting, Whatcom Association of Celestial Observers gather at a park in Whatcom County to view stars and planets
Telescopes
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FALL 2022 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE 23 Clockwise from top left: End of hiking season colors along the Skyline Divide. Evan Skoczenski photo | Humans best friend escaping the cold and snow. Evan Skoczenski photo | Ilana Newman trail running on Goat Peak, North Cascades. Matthew Tangeman photo | Sunset from Winchester Lookout as B.C. forest fire smoke moves in across the border. Dylan Luder photo | Maximizing the summer daylight at Bellingham’s many beach spots. Evan Skoczenski photo | Jon Hansen riding at Revelstoke Mountain Resort. Grant Gunderson photo GALLERY
24 MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2022 MountBakerExperience.com Clockwise from top left: The sun rises over a cloud-covered Lake Whatcom near Sudden Valley. Dave Summers photo | Tom Ramier and Brad Lignoski high on the Upper Town Wall, Index, WA. Matthew Tangeman photo | Dean Petty looks back on the beach in Tofino. Marcus Paladino photo | Fall in full bloom in Leavenworth and along the Icicle River. Dave Summers photo
FALL 2022 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE 25 GALLERY
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FALL 2022 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE 27 GALLERY Clockwise from top left: Mr. G stands atop the summit of Carne Mountain surveying the Glacier Peak Wilderness and all its splendor. Dave Summers photo | A group of friends and co-workers use every minute of sunlight to paddle out to Dot Island. Skye Schillhammer photo | Olivine rock hopping at sunset as a near full moon and Mt. Adams loom in the distance. Audra Lee Mercille photo | Pete Devries off of Vancouver Island. Marcus Paladino photo | Scott Laughland mountain biking in Hakkuba, Japan. Grant Gunderson photo
Ferguson | Photos by
McKay CHITONURCHIN HOODED NUDIBRANCH
Story by Ian Madi
MountBakerExperience.com
Tidepooling Tongue Point Braving the elements
Pitch black, it was the middle of winter, late in the evening. The wind was howling — cold creep ing through the cracks of my bundled layers. “Today we will find an octopus, I can feel it,” Madi told me as we descended down salt-seasoned con crete steps to the rocky reef below. I chuck led, she said that every time. At the bottom of the steps, the search was on. We started scanning nooks and crannies for creatures — creatures so bizarre, they seem straight out of the imagination. Intertidal animals come in a wide variety of colors, shapes and sizes. Nowhere else have I seen a more diverse array of animals. In a one-meter area of a tide pool, you could see anemones, crabs, fish, shrimp, sea stars, sea cucumbers, urchins, sea slugs and octo pus (if lucky). The list goes on. These animals live underwater, subject to currents and waves much of the time, but are exposed at low tide. Madi knew some of the lowest tides during winter are at night and somehow convinced me to brave the elements.Madibecame obsessed with tidepooling a few years into college. She was studying biol ogy at Western Washington University and took any opportunity to get into the field. Eventually, she started dragging me along to beaches around Bellingham — Larrabee State Park, Clayton Beach and Teddy Bear Cove.InBellingham, we’d often find the hooded nudibranch, a type of sea slug. The largest of these nearly transparent creatures fits snug ly into the palm of your hand. Found in the shallow waters around Larrabee during the summer months, they undulate their bodies aimlessly, almost in dance. Madi discovered that they gather by the thousands on eel grass beds in late summer to mate. Fun fact: They smell like watermelon Jolly Ranchers. Slowly, Madi’s ambition took her farther and farther from home. We began to explore the jetties of Westport, docks of Tacoma and rocky reefs on Juan de Fuca Strait. Luckily for her, I was always ready for it, as long as I could bring my surfboards. Of all the places we frequented, there was one we both fell in love with, Tongue Point on Juan de Fuca Strait. It was here that Madi and I found ourselves that night, bundled head to toe on a cold November evening. Tongue Point is a rocky reef point in the Salt Creek Recreation Area. Snow capped peaks of Vancouver Island cover the north ern horizon, a sandy crescent-shaped beach, aptly named Crescent Bay, lies just to the west. A summer sunset here is a rosy kiss of cosmic divine. As the sun drops into the mouth of the strait, the sea mist bends the rays to off shades of purple and red — the farthest reaches of light spread west to Mt. Baker, illuminating its peak for minutes after sunset.Looking over the point at high tide, it’d be hard to tell there is anything of interest be neath the chaos of the crashing waves. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. As the tide retreats, a few exposed rocks turn into a massive field of open barnacle and kelp-covered rock, and to Madi, a gold mine ofTonguediscovery.Point is nearly 300 yards long and has over 2.5 acres of exposed intertid al habitat at low tides. Our game plan was to walk straight out to the end of the point to an area that was only exposed at the low est tides. These areas are only available to tidepoolers a few times a month at most, so there’s a much better chance to find animals that have been caught off guard by the low tide and didn’t have time to retreat to deeper water. When the rare sightings of the giant Pacific octopus do occur, they are typically in this area. We started marching, stumbling over loose rocks and treading lightly to avoid exposed barnacles and kelp. When we reached the end we shined our flashlights to illuminate the water's edge. There were waves crash ing, the wind blowing off their tops, sending plumes of water high into the air. We ex changed shouts through the piercing wind and turned our attention to the ground. The floor was a collage of greens, purples, reds and oranges. A layer of kelp rested limply on nearly every rocky surface. In the pools, dozens of urchins crowded together. Through their vibrant violet hues, touches of red refracted through the water. From a standing position, the urchins morphed together in one mass of color. Though when I got close, I saw these were
FALL 2022 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE 29 in fact living, breathing animals. I watched hundreds of tiny tube feet project out of their spines. We found some that had collect ed shell fragments and crab molts to wear as armor. To me, this is the magic of tidepooling. Life at every level is nearly fractal. From a distance, you may spot kelp, groups of urchin, clusters of sea anemone and the occasional ochre star. But the closer you look, the more life you’ll find. Look under the kelp you might find crabs, baby ochre stars, tiny bright-red blood stars, and glowing, seemingly-fluores cent sea slugs. With a closer in spection of the baby ochre star, you might find that it’s resting on a bed of sponge, and that sponge is living and growing on the shell of a crab. (Yes, this is something Madi has found, Spongebob, Pat rick and Mister Crabs all hanging outMaditogether!)hasthis innate ability to catapult herself into the space where these animals spend their lives, and it never ceases to amaze me. Within minutes she starts pointing out incredible finds. She Continued on page 32 on Coupeville’s historic waterfront We Ship! Local authors, New releases, Books, Maps, Cards, Stickers 16 NW Front St. Coupeville, WA 360-678-8463 kingfisherbookstore.com To join our virtual Youth and Educational Events, or for information on events and days open, follow Langley Whale Center or email katie@orcanetwork.org 105 Anthes Ave • Langley, Whidbey Island To see and report whale sightings, follow Orca Network Our new office is located at 210 Morris St. 360-466-4778 l www.lovelaconner.com coupevillechamber.com • info@coupevillechamber.com 905 NW Alexander St. Coupeville, WA • 360-678-5434 Come for the day or weekend and experience a slower pace with fresh air, friendly people and amazing sunsets. Experience Coupeville on scenic Whidbey Island Explore our walking and biking trails Stroll our historic district with its unique shops, restaurants and art galleries. Stay in one of our Bed & Breakfasts, Inns and Vacation Rentals. Events throughout October. hauntingofcoupeville.comVisitforlistofevents Iverson Insurance AGENCY
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“A
fter work one day in late August, I sat alone by the side of the trail, motionless. Suddenly, I noticed the light. Be yond just observing, I absorbed the light. The angle of the sun had changed just enough to give everything a slightly different hue. The earth seemed to pause between summer and fall, and I was at rest as well. Weeks of walk ing, days of hard work, nights staring at the stars and moon, and mornings watching the sun filter through the trees all culminated in that moment. I’d slowed enough to assimi late the pulse of the landscape, the imprint of wilderness. This still point anchored me — it anchors me Excerptnow.”from “Bitteroot” by Margi Fox . Some of you may recognize Margi from walking the streets and trails of Bellingham and Whatcom County or maybe you know her from taking writing classes at Western Washington University or Whatcom Com munity College. She seems to build commu nity wherever she goes. I first met her blue berry picking off of Highway 9 where we got to talking about hiking and body work. She practically glows when she talks about walking. It’s no wonder that she has made many enduring relationships from a lifetime ofThishiking.love of walking did not come from her grandmother who dragged her by the arm, from errand to errand, teaching her to walk as a form of transportation because she didn’t own a car. Instead, this love of walk ing began during a middle school summer camp where the students studied history as they hiked. In the Nevada desert, her group learned about the Donner party’s trials and tribulations as they migrated by foot, horse and wagon from Illinois to California in 1846-1847.Inhighschool, she joined The Sierra Club and hiked and backpacked through the Si
Walking in the Woods with MargiFox Ambulando:SolviturItIsSolvedbyWalking
By Luca Williams erra Nevada Range, Wyoming and Idaho. It was while summiting Snowyside Peak in the SawTooth Mountains of Idaho that Margi says, “I had this sense that I was tiny in this sea of the mountains and as big as every thing I could see.” On her 18th birthday, as she was hiking out of the Grand Canyon at 5000 feet of ele vation, she had a realization, “I am 18 years old and I know how to pace myself.” These memories have sustained her through life and all of its ups and downs. Because of these early experiences, wilder ness became a place where she felt at home and in 1973, nine years after the Wilderness Act of 1964 was established by Congress, she took a job as one of the first women trail crew members in the remote Selway-Bitter root Wilderness in the Moose Creek area of Idaho, the ancestral lands of the Nez Perce (Nimiipuu), Salish (Séliš) Kootenai, Shosho ne-Bannock and Lemhi-Shoshone peoples. For four months during the summers, Mar gi and her work partner, another woman, crosscut trees, beat back the brush, con structed small bridges, re-routed trails and built hundreds of water bars. At times, the only other person they saw was their super visor, who resupplied them with food every twoDuringweeks.graduate school, Margi met her husband while working in the Alaska Range and every day after work, they walked to gether under the late night sky. Later, they raised their son to hike and backpack. Mar gi’s grandmother claimed that Margi’s happy marriage was all due to her forcing her to walk during those childhood years. For many years, Margi found her solace in the wilderness, but now she finds it in sim ply walking no matter where she is. While walking, she makes new friends and solidi fies old ones, through side-by-side listening during movement. On the week of her 69th birthday Margi completed her goal of walk ing 69 miles. This is her wish: To continue walking her age on the week of her birthday. The other weeks she averages 40-50 miles per week depending on the weather or the state of her body. When I asked Margi what her favorite stretch was, she responded, “Walking. For me walking is my meditation. It’s my exercise. It’s my connection to family. It’s my social time. It’s my everything.”
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FALL 2022 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE 31
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showed me an opalescent nudibranch. This one was no larger than a silver dollar, and on its back were dozens of finger-like structures called cerata. The cerata were off-white at the base and blended to a fiery orange tip. The collection of cerata floated and waved in the cur rents of the pool, and gave the impression of being soft, almost furry.
I asked Madi how in the world she finds these tiny little animals. She casually said she just looks for the colors. Seemed easy enough. I continued to poke around, keeping an eye out for the colors. An hour had passed and the tide started to move back in. Madi started to get discouraged, she claimed again that she really thought today was the day we’d find an octopus. She always got her hopes up. But really, what are the chances that we find one of the most elusive animals in the intertidal zone? I didn’t admit it, but I felt something too. Tonight did feel like the night we’d find one. Maybe we just felt enti tled to it, because of the sacrifice and work we put in to be here. Not just braving the elements in the tide pools, which was novel enough to still be fun. But later we’d struggle to find warmth sleeping on the windswept bluff, with temperatures dropping to the 30-degrees. And we drove hours earlier that morning to get here, and tomorrow we’d drive hours back home. We slowly started making our way back to the bluff, just barely outpacing the tide. Madi stopped every few yards to examine new pools without much luck. I was tired, and the cold was getting to me. I started pleading with Madi that we head back and get warm. She agreed, just after one more look. As I watched Madi, keeled over, perusing through thickets of kelp, grumpy and cold, I saw something in the corner of my eye — a flash of orange. Look for the colors.Myheart lurched into my throat before I knew what I saw. I aimed my flashlight into the large tide pool to my right. Right there, contrasted with a purple backdrop of urchins, was a bright orange giant Pacific octopus. I could barely get the words out of my mouth, “Madi! Octopus!” She leaped up, and for a few brief moments, we watched in awe as the animal slinked around the tide pool floor, before quickly finding shelter under an overhang of rock. The moment was so brief, so fleeting. Miraculously, Madi’s adrenalin-fueled thumb had found its way to the record button on her phone, and we got to capture these few moments with this remarkable animal. In an instant, all our longing for the warmth of fire disappeared. We got low and quiet and huddled around the small cave in the tide pool to see if the crea ture would gift us another encounter. We waited, and waited but it never came back out. We said our good byes and gave our gratitude to our little friend, who we could not see, but whose presence could be felt. Back at the campsite, we studied the video, observ ing its orange textured skin and how it slinked around using its arms to walk. Its cadence was slow and me thodical.Wecould only guess what the animal was doing out side its den. Once we spotted it, it stayed in our pres ence for no more than 20 seconds. Was it searching for a way out of the pool? Was it hunting? Was it saying hello? The latter is what I like to think.
The opalescent nudibranch primarily feeds on anem ones. The anemones have stinging cells, but they don’t harm the nudibranch, rather the nudibranch reuses these stinging cells in the tips of their cerata as a de fense against predators. Some scientists believe their bright colors are a warning to predators — “If you bite me, it’ll sting!”
32 MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2022 MountBakerExperience.com
x SEANUDIBRANCHCUCUMBER SEA ANENOME GREAT PACIFIC OCTOPUS Continued from page 29
AREA CONSIDERATIONS
Sehome ArboretumHill By Jason D. Martin
SEHOME CLASSIC AREA LEFT
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Rocki Boiii Boulder –Climbs on opposite side from trail.
• No parking along Arboretum Drive inside the park.
• There are some chipped holds here from historic climbers. This is no longer consid ered appropriate or ethical.
• Be wary of sandstone when wet.
APPROACH DIRECTIONS
Select Rock Climbing and Bouldering Guide
Fun
The following routes start a few feet beyond Rocky Boiii. These can be on the right side of the trail. The Text Book (5.7, 20', Trad or TR) This nice seam is the first attractive route on the left side of the cliff-band. The double-bolt anchor at the top can easily be accessed from the trail on the right. You may need a belay to safely set it up as a TR. Sehome Chimney (5.4, 20', Trad or TR) Found just right of The Text Book, this is a fun short chimney to a bolted anchor. To make it more challenging, climb the parallel cracks at the back of the chimney at 5.8. The Classic Direct (V3-V4 or TR) Highball. This is really a hard variation of the The Classic. It can be found right of the Sehome Chimney and left of the normal start to The Classic. The Classic is defined by the glue-in bolts on the route. The boulder prob lem ends once you reach the bolts. Start at a small horizontal hold and make your way straight up to a seam, eventually merging with the preceding route at the second bolt. The Classic (5.8, 25' Mixed) This route starts above some exposed roots, left of a large tree. This is essentially a sport line, though it is possible to place a cam in the crack down low. Four bolts. FA: J. Kenoyer and G. Mustoe, 1966 Boulder Lip Traverse (V2) Highball. Continue up the hill to the right of the Classic to the small gully that accesses the top of the route. Begin across from the top of The Classic on the wild and exposed traverse. Make a traverse right across the top of the boulder. Falling on this route, anywhere, could lead to injury. Boulder Up (V1) Climb straight up the righthand side of the boulder, at the end of the preceding problem.
Double
Bifocals(V9)(V3)
Caden Martin sends the classic Text Book. movement on the Sehome Chimney. Vision
As the arboretum is connected to the campus of Western Washington University, countless students dabble with rock climbing there before experimenting with it any where else. Indeed, the author of this article set up his first topropes on the sandstone of Sehome when he attended WWU in the early 1990s.
SEHOME CLASSIC AREA LEFT
FALL 2022 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE 33
From the gate at the bottom of the hill, walk two minutes up on Arboretum Drive to a trail on the left with a yellow "Steep Slopes and Falling Rocks" sign on it. Walk past the sign (southwest) under the cliffs to the Rocky Boiii boulder on the left (south) side of trail.
From Intersate 5 take exit 252 to Samish Way. Go west, passing Haggen on the left, on Bill McDonald Parkway. Drive .75 miles toward the WWU campus and Sehome High School to 25th Street, Arboretum Drive, and turn right. It is possible to park right outside the yellow gate at the base of the hill. Alternately, you can drive a few more minutes to the top of the hill. Study the guidebook to determine the best parking for your objectives.
Homeless encampments have occasionally sprung up on the hill. And though there aren’t many, climbers should keep their eyes open, avoid camps and be wary of needles in areas where there’s evidence of old camps. Sehome Hill is rampant with graffiti and climbers are encouraged to report vandalism if they see it actively happening. Additionally, they should participate in group graffiti cleaning efforts when possible.
ROCKI BOII BOULDER Rocki Boiii (V0) There are several variations that face the trail. FA: Unknown Double Vision (V9) This problem can be found on the southwest corner of the boul der. Sit-start with an undercling. Move up and left on the sloping lip until you top out. Bifocals (V3) Sit-start at the same point as the preceding route, but instead of follow ing the left-hand edge, climb up onto the slab.
verlooking all of Bellingham, Sehome Hill Arboretum has long been a place for people to practice their rock climbing skills, both for boulder ing as well as for roped climbing. It could actually be argued that the climbing on Sehome Hill had an influence on some of the biggest climbs in the world. The Yosemite leg end and historic Exum mountain guide Chuck Pratt (1939-2000), learned to climb in the park in the early 1950s. He stated in an 1983 interview that he had no idea what he was doing, but that climbing local rocks seemed to be an extension of climbing trees. He noted that he started climbing in the area at the ripe young age of 13. Pratt would go on to put up impressive first ascents on climbs as diverse as California’s El Capitan and on Utah’s Castleton Tower.
• Some routes traditionally done with ropes are short enough to feel like boulder prob lems. Be wary of these as landings are often poor.
Jam Crack (5.7, 20', Trad or TR) This is a cool crack in the trees, but a bouldering fall here could be fatal as the landing is terrible. At the bot tom of this route there is a small memorial to Elliot Scott. Open Book Overhang (5.10a, 15', Trad, TR) Just to the right of the preceding route is a crack that makes its way up and left. This could be a bouldering problem, but the landing is poor.
FA: Tim Shultz, Mid-90s. Bolt Ladder #2 (5.10a, 35', Sport) A cool line. Climb up through hue cos clipping four bolts. FA: Bill Lingley, 1970. The Stairway (5.2, 40', TR) Climb the mossy right-leaning ramp to the right of the previous route. There are some chipped holds on the line. Beware that if soloing, the line can be very slick. Use trees for top rope anchors. The Sidewalk (5.5, 30', TR) This is really a big variation to the previ ous route. From below the tallest part of the cliff, climb up to a ledge and traverse left into The Stairway. Sidewalk Direct (5.10b/c, 30', TR) This line climbs directly up the tallest part of this section of cliff-band. A climber in the ’70s chipped holds into the face, something that you should not do. Use trees for top rope anchors.
FA: Bill Lingley, 1967 The Diagonal (5.9, 30', TR) Also known as Catwalk by some early climbers. Climb straight up through two huecos.
Lingley’s Slab (5.3, 20', TR) Climb the slab to the left of a large hueco mid-face. In 1967, Bill Lingley cleaned all the moss off this line. But it is a wet area and was covered with moss as of this writing.
SEHOME CLASSIC AREA RIGHT
The Jam Crack Area
JAM CRACK AREA
The Shultz Route (5.10b, 35', TR) Start on the right side of the scoop and work up and left.
Lingley's Traverse (V3) Start in the chipped holds on the left side of the mossy slab and traverse right under Lingley's Slab and below the Diagonal. When you reach the painted “?”, traverse up and left to finish at the second hueco.
A gully separates the two cliff-bands. The following routes are to the right of the gully. There are two bolts at the top of the crag that may be used for top roping the next four routes.
Open Book(5.10a)Overhang
The Diagonal Boulder Problem (V2) This is a shorter and cleaner version of Lingley's Traverse. Start at the “?” and make your way up to the second hueco. The Question (V3) Start left of the “?” and work up and right on a rounded arete. Top out above the small roof. Be careful as this is a bit of a highball with a hard descent.
Sehome Traverse (V5) Start at the base of Sidewalk Direct. Traverse right under the steepest portion in the roof. Lunge for a crimp. Contin ue right to a mantle. Not the best landing for something so classic. FA: Greg Heffron, mid-90s. Note: A trail may be found on the right-hand side of the cliff-band that may be used to access the top of the crag.
FA: Unknown Broken Arrow (V2) Start as for the preceding route. Climb up to the scoop, but cut right to top out right of the “arrow tip.” FA: Unknown Arrow Feather (V9?) Start to the right of the previous routes at the lowest point of the boulder. Traverse left and finish on Broken Arrow. Arrow to the Heart (V6?) Start as for the preceding route on the far right side of the boulder. Go straight up onto the lower-angled arete to summit on the "arrow tip."
MountBakerExperience.com The Arrowhead Boulder
SehomeAreaClassicRight
Question Mark The Diagonal (5.9) Lingley’s Traverse (V3) The Schultz Route (5.10b) Bolt Ladder #2 (5.10a) Sidewalk Direct (5.10b) The Stairway (5.2)The Sidewalk (5.5) Sehome Traverse (V5) Arrowhead (V1) (5.7)JamArrowBroken(V2)ArrowtotheHeart(V6?)Crack
From the trail to the right of Sidewalk Direct, walk along the trail on the top of the ridge to the right (northeast) for one minute. A small spur trail cuts right to the Jam Crack area. Drop down steeply, skier’s right, passing a tree. Skirt the cliff-band, skier’s left, to get beneath the Jam Crack. There are a number of trees above each of these routes that may be used to facilitate a top rope. This area was the site of an unfortunate tragedy in April 2020. It is pre sumed that 22-year-old Elliot Scott died in a free solo accident below the Jam Crack. There are conflicting reports on the death. One report notes that a boulder fell onto the young man, while others report a fall. Regard less, this was a tragic loss.
ARROWHEAD BOULDER The Arrowhead Boulder can be found just below the Sehome Traverse. Arrowhead (V1) Start just right of the arete with good hands. Work up and left through the scoop to top out at the “arrow tip.”
Offwidth Brain (V4) Sit start and use offwidth and chim ney technique to climb between the Brains. FA: Unknown Middle Brain (V6) Sit start and then hug-squeeze up. Don’t stop until you're on top. Right Brain (V4) Sit start left and move up right using funky slopers. A bit easier for tall folks.
SEHOME SUMMIT BOULDER GROUP
Tea Time (V1) Start on low crimps on the left-side of the boulder. Work up right through horizontals and slippers to top out on the right. Brain Cancer (V4) The next boulder to the right (north east) is the Brain Cancer Boulder. Brain Cancer is the first line on the left. Start just left of the “31” scratch. Work up the left-side of the boulder and through the roof. Highball. Bombshell Cancer (V4) Start on the right-hand arete. Climb slopers up and to the left. Finish as for Brain Cancer. Highball. Bombshell (V4) Start on the right arete, as for the previ ous route. Climb up and left under the biggest part of the roof. Pull through the roof and work up right. Highball. Scatter Bomb (V3) Start with hands on both sides of the arete. Work up onto the slab. Pucker and reach for the “good hold” at the top.
Woo Boulder Mist Boulder TimeTea CancerBrain
From the entry gate walk five minutes up the hill to a steep climber’s trail on the left (northwest) side of the road. A short skinny tree with almost no branches can be found at the start of the trail. Climb steeply up for about two minutes to the Three Brains. Left Brain (V5) Climb the overhung left-side of the Left Brain. Sit start with the left hand on a right-angled hold. Right-hand on a side-hold. Go up through the roof to a tricky top-out.
THREE BRAINS AREA
Scientology (V2) Woo (V2) Dr. Google Eyes (V8) Dino Petro (V5-6) The Ramp (V3)
Brain CancerBombshell(V4) Cancer BombshellScatterbomb(V4)(V3)(V4) Mist (V3) PsychologyExploding(V4)Imploding
Photo by Brad Johnson.
Tea Time (V1)
MIST BOULDER
From the upper parking lot walk northeast to the tunnel and take the trail to the right of the tunnel. The Mist Boulder is the first feature you will encounter. Mist (V3) Begin on the rail on the left side of the fea ture. Work up to a shallow pocket and then right to the top. Needed cleaning at the time of this writing. Exploding Psychology (V4?) Start with the left-hand in a pocket left of the painted blob. The right-hand is on a side-pull edge in the blob. Go straight up. Imploding Scientology (V2) To the right of the preced ing route, a seam climbs up into a small dirty chimney. Continue up left over a bulge. Needs cleaning.
A small group of boulder problems may be found behind the summit restoration area, left of the tunnel and right of the parking lot. There are a number of access points. The fol lowing are listed left-to-right.
Dino Petro (V5-6) Start at the ancient dinosaur scratched into the cliff by some random dude. Climb straight up the middle of the cliff for a top-out. Superbowl (V6-7) Start as for the previous problem, but work right at the jug. Pass a bad sloper and make your way to the top. Sketchy! Dr. Google Eyes (V8) Start at the right-hand side of the Woo traverse. At the pinch, launch straight up. Dirty and sketchy! x Alanna Steele strains her way up Offwidththe Brain.
WOO BOULDER From the Mist Boulder continue on the trail for approxi mately 50 feet to the Woo Boulder.
Woo (V2) Also known as the Pendulum Traverse, is the best line on the boulder. Traverse along the obvious hand rail. The Ramp (V3) Start as for the preceding route on the left side of the boulder. On the large hold work up through a seam and shallow pockets to the top.
In 2015, when Georgia-Pacif ic West was demolished and the port started development at the downtown waterfront, Brown and Watts met with Port of Belling ham executive director Rob Fix to get a tour of the property. With a tentative idea in mind, Brown and Watts ran it by Fix. Fix, who’s also a mountain biker, said he was inter ested, and they kept the conversa tion going over the years.
O
ered on the Chestnut Street bridge to watch music acts from outside the festival grounds; three full rows maximum in front of the stage during headlining sets; the ever-draining amount of space between locales and people; the beer garden open all afternoon with 24 breweries, and some saying they poured only 20 beers.
rganizing an inaugural event in any year is difficult. Building connections with spon sors, vendors, volunteers, the community, the city and cultivating a crowd take time and trust. They also require some degree of certainty and security. Which we had little of in 2020 and 2021. A global pandemic will throw a wrench in all that. Shiver. This summer, Northwest Tune-Up put on its first three-day bike, beer and music festival after a two-year postponement. It had an elite level enduro race on Galbraith Mountain, mountain bike demos available from up to 30 manufacturers, skills courses and transport to local trail systems. On Bellingham’s downtown water front, there was music all day and night, featuring headlining bands of PJ Morton, The Dip, Devotch ka and others, along with pump track races, local artists vending, an assortment of food trucks and an open beer garden. For many people in Belling ham and the surrounding areas who ride bikes and enjoy a good time, attending should seem like a no-brainer. This could be the town’s summer celebration. It had the makings of it, at least, but fell short.Early announced headliners disappeared from the lineup; few attendees who said they actually purchased tickets; groups gath
Whatcom Mountain Bike Coa lition (WMBC) executive director Eric Brown and Freehub Maga zine founder and publisher Bran don Watts, who have been friends since 2009, began talking early on about how Bellingham was miss ing something cool, like a festival.
It was a first-year event that didn’t quite get the numbers it planned for and was working out the kinks. (They were scheduled for Thursday.)
Some might point to the pricing as a reason. A single day pass was $75, while a three-day VIP pass was $350. That seems steep if the access to racing and demos isn’t consid ered. A four-hour demo at Transition Bikes is $75 alone — they, however, are nice enough to give proceeds to WMBC. But not everyone is a biker. Summers are busy, and time and money isn’t infinte. The pandemic’s lingering impact cannot be ignored. People choosing an online world over a real one. All could have an effect to some degree. Watching Wolf Parade kill it Saturday night to a crowd of subdued excitement, I thought, “Bummer, what happened?”
NorthwestTune-Up: On for next year, with changes and first year behind it Story and photos by Ian Haupt
36 MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2022 MountBakerExperience.com
The port approved WMBC’s development of the pump track in 2019, which grew to what it is now — multiple pump tracks, jump lines and a skills course — during the design process.
CANNABIS WARNING: Marijuana products may be
Through surveys done after the event, Price said they received feed back on how some thought the ticket price was too expensive and visitors were confused about logistics, like getting to and from the wa terfront and Galbraith. She said some positive feedback was on the fes tival’s use of the waterfront area and its uniqueness as well as the artist vendors. All feedback will be used to improve next year’s event, she said.
Brown said now that they have a track record with artists, sponsors and the community, they are in a good place for years to come.
In 2017, Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism announced its sig nature event grant program, and Brown, Watts and a couple other local businesses pitched the idea of a mountain bike, beer and music festival.
“We feel like year one is under our belt,” Brown said, “and we’re poised for a much more successful event next year.” x purchased or possessed only by persons 21 years of age or older. This product has intoxicating effects and may be habit impair concentration, coordination, and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. There be health risks associated with consumption of this product. For use only by adults twenty-one and older. Keep out of the reach of children.
forming. Marijuana can
FALL 2022 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE 37
Then the team assembled again with more businesses and key figures, like music director Hunter Motto of Seattle music venue The Crocodile and former Downtown Bellingham Partnership director Nick Hartrich, on board. And this time won the grant, with the festival supposed to be held in June 2020. Brown said they canceled those plans in late-February 2020 due to uncertainty from the pandemic, as cases were rising in Europe and the U.S. had yet to implement shutdowns. It was postponed for the fore seeable future until in early 2022, Brown said they decided to make it happen. With the festival scheduled for July 8-10, he said it wasn’t until spring 2022 when planning really began. The team brought on staff and went full gas to make it happen.
Brown said, thankfully, they lost that grant, because the waterfront area needed more work and development to host a festival.
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With the team assembled, a full year of marketing planned and ad justments to be made, Brown said they have dates set for a return next year. He said the festival grounds will be more compact and the sched ule will be tighter. All demos will be out of the waterfront, and riders will be shuttled up to Galbraith or Chuckanut mountains. More empha sis will be put on showcasing the local arts community. The stage will be brought in closer to Kulshan’s Trackside Beer Garden. Twilight tickets will be sold for those wishing to see the headliners.
“It was definitely one of those years where I feel like we pulled it off in 2022, despite all the uncertainty that happened the year prior with planning,” he said. “So it set us up really well for 2023.”
Ellie Price, who also works for WMBC, joined the team then as the social media and marketing person. During the marketing process, Price said they targeted bikers, music festivalgoers and families, but only had three months to do so and a grant that limited marketing to a 50-mile radius outside Bellingham.
may
The red-and-green sockeye, which in clear water look like bejeweled carnival celebrants, dash and dance, swirl and flash. Watching from shore is an experience I’ll never forget. Take your average July 4 fireworks show, multiply it a thousand times, and that’s a close analogy. The water tumbles with whirlpools and cascades, an aquaticButterscotchcyclotron.cottonwoods cast a golden glow. The scents of alpine water, musty damp fir and cedar, and autumn-straw meadow grass ride the breeze.
Icall it the real riverdance. Four million gorgeous natural acrobats, a six-mile performance runway of shimmering rock and sand and crystalline amber water, thousands of stately onlooking ancient spectators who delight in the an nual dancers that come by so dependably.
Adams River sockeye run Travel 4 hours to a once every 4 years phenomena
By Eric Lucas
I don’t want to promote the Adams River by lamenting what’s been lost, but it’s appropriate to shade amazement with some perspective. A similar scene, for example, on a scale four times as large, could be seen for millennia at Celilo Falls on the Columbia, a jaw-dropping cascade now submerged by Bonneville Dam’s reservoir forever. Or, at least, until humanity’s successors come along and undertake whatever renovation nature demands. Meanwhile, at the Adams, past glories live on. But why, exactly? First of all, the Fraser is one of the last North American rivers without a mainstem dam. Numerous proposals to change that have so far been blown up like suspicious
• Each fall millions of salmon, mostly sockeye, run up the Fraser River into the B.C. interior, and on up to the Adams, a tributary to a tributary of the Fraser. Every four years, the so-called “dominant run” brings up to 4 million sockeye.Thisyear fisheries biologists are expecting 3.7 million — a number that may exceed, in this one small river, the entire total of natural salmon runs left in the Lower 48.
BruceMoffatphoto
DaveSmithphoto
• The Adams is a short but fine and fruitful stretch of water between Shuswap Lake and Adams Lake, just six miles, or 10K. There is almost nothing but mountain wil derness in the watershed feeding the lake and river, so the flow is perfect in every way for salmon.
The early October Adams River sockeye salmon run near Kamloops, B.C., is one of the greatest natural spec tacles in the Western Hemisphere, a truly one-of-a-kind event beloved by its human neighbors and visiting spec tators — and an unsurpassed opportunity to marvel at the power and beauty of nature.
38 MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2022 MountBakerExperience.com
There’s no sound but the river run’s rhapsody. And the salmon court and mate while we watch, cele brating their own beloved festival. All this is as accessible as any man-made attraction you can imagine: Paved roads lead to Tsútswecw Provincial Park surrounding the river, splendid pathways lead to the riverbanks and viewing platforms offer ideal vantages. No trekking poles or hiking boots needed. (I wore flipflops … Hey, I’m a middle-aged white guy.) It’s not true wilderness, but it is a tongue of the wilderness reaching intoThecivilization.wholeshow is so sensational and accessible that Ca nadians have created a festival to celebrate their seminal spectacle. This year, September 30 to October 23, they’ll have on-site interpretive naturalists, eight to 10 local ar tisans, another dozen food vendors, and representatives of the Little Shuswap First Nations Band, whose people have been celebrating and thriving on these salmon for thousands of years. This year, sockeye fans are expecting about 150,000 visitors, a pretty large number for a natural attraction involving fish. The ichthyological facts are awesome:
• This is the southernmost surviving large and “produc tive” (a human assessment) salmon run in North Ameri ca. Many areas farther away, in Alaska and northern B.C., also host vast runs — but there is none whatsoever south of the Adams that represents more than a fraction of the former glory of Pacific salmon. The Columbia Basin, for instance, once drew 16 million to 20 million salmon a year. Now, it’s a half-million in a good year.
“Then there’s the water quality in the Adams itself,” adds Ted Danyluk, lead interpretive guide for the Adams River Salmon Society. “Adams Lake is the sixth deepest in the world (1,500 feet). The wa ter flows out of the lake cold and clear, and the river itself has enough fall that all the cascades make it rich in oxygen. The riparian zone keeps the water cold. There’s just the right amount of gravel for the spawning beds.”
Eric Lucas lives on a small farm on San Juan Island, where he grows organic hay, beans, squash and apples. For more information on Adams River sockeye, visit salmonsociety.com.
FALL 2022 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE 39 suitcases, so the Adams sockeye need climb no fish ladders, brave no murky overheated reservoirs, dodge no tugs, powerboats or pollution.
Adams
Despite all those advantages, Danyluk urges visitors to recognize the effort it takes for the salmon to get here to their birthplace. They brave the North Pacific for three years, growing to maturity; find their way back to the Fraser and swim past one of the world’s great metropolitan areas, Vancouver; head up the Fraser to navigate a fearsome chasm called Hell’s Gate where the entire river surges through a bedrock defile just 115 feet wide; reach the Adams after traveling 1,240 miles.
Marijuana can impair concentration, coordination, and judgment. Do not operate a vehicle or machinery under the influence of this drug. This product has intoxicating effects and may be habit forming. There may be health risks associated with consumption of this product. For use only by adults twenty-one and older. Keep out of the reach of children.
Timothy Egan once defined “the Northwest” as anywhere salmon return to spawn, so the annual Adams adagio could serve well as Cascadia’s national anthem. “God keep our land glorious and free,” prays Canada’s anthem, and here is a grand spot to do just that. Watch the fish, and I think you’ll have an emotional response to the ancient rhythm of life, death, birth and renewal. It brings tears to my eyes, honestly. Put your phone in your pocket and listen to the breeze and the waters. Take deep breaths of the brilliant air of the Monashee Mountains. Gaze upward in the tall cottonwoods, and you’ll understand why Tolkien’s wisest, most beloved creatures were the Ents of Middle-Earth’s Forest of Fangorn. “We must not be hasty,” declares Treebeard in The Two Towers. Hmmm. Do you suppose that’s an issue in modern civilization? It would be meretricious to advise marveling at the Adams run without urging some perspective. This is likely the best place on this planet to witness the miracle of salmon, so please, go — it’s a fourhour drive from Bellingham — but go in love, not consumptive entertainment. Although humans believe we are mighty, we did not make this. We can only ruin it — or treasure it. x
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“What an amazing story of endurance!” Danyluk marvels. Indeed. And… More than endurance, it is also a tale of nature’s grand design. The salmon both indicate and cre ate a healthy ecosystem. Thousands of other wildland beings benefit from these anadromous fish and their devotion to their land and their story. Eagles, bears, ospreys and many more feast on the spawned-out fish. Their decaying bodies enrich the ground where the mighty trees root. The life-cy cle rhythm is a song of and for the Earth’s journey around the sun.
River Salmon courtesySocietyphoto BUY LOCAL
40 MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2022 MountBakerExperience.com habits and the reason he was here: “Feeder streams of low gradient with stable discharge are highly desirable, but rarely exist in drainages of high altitude lakes. Meandering meadow streams with abundant spring water inflow are more likely to provide the essential flow stability for reproduction of lake-dwelling Arctic grayling.”
“I’m now a lot more hopeful for this population.”
Tying on a little leech pattern, I make casts out to the drop off of the broad alluvial fan that stretches across the inlet of the lake. The light goes long down the valley of the lake, stretching from the inlet streams to the far walls of granite. The bite is on, and it isn’t long before I have another survivor inInhand.Beauchamp’s time here, he would take angler surveys, tallying the number of grayling caught each summer, with numbers that barely tickled double digits. With enough time this morning, I might hit that number alone. Against all odds, these fish have made this lake home. I let go a nice 8-inch fish, cast again and immediately am on once more. It feels like every cast lands a fish. Grayling, cutthroat, grayling. We go until our arms go numb. Every tug is a little act of rebellion. We’re still out here, whether we belong or not. x
“But when I went back in 2020,” Jensen said, “it was com pletely different.”
In the North Cascades, where elevation topography lines nearly meet, the low angle, sinuous mountain streams that grayling require are an oddity. But over Beauchamp's shoul der would have been exactly that: A broad pan of azure and green water that stretches back from the inlet of the lake, hemmed in by a tumble of granite talus fields, and all fed by the twin streams of a grand snow field high on the slopes of an unnamed 6,000-foot peak. It’s the first thing that catches my eye as we stumble out of the devils club and huckleberry last August. While most of our trek has been on decommissioned logging road, there has been considerable rewilding since the ’80s — with grand swaths of slide alder tangling themselves into a rat’s nest of a fishing trail. It only gets worse the further we push in, and is topped off with an off-trail heave up waterfall gullies and granite boulder fields. But now here, I can see how it is that grayling have held on: Through a geographic and hydrologic fluke, fish planted here in 1946 have not only lived, but thrived. Beauchamp would later make multiple visits to the lake, noting that the grayling relied on one of two snow-fed streams for spawning. It was this thought that got another UW ichthyologist thinking: Would that be the case forever?
Continued from page 19
Up valley, where the snowmelt tumbles out of the hills, the twin streams that typically fed the lake had split, pushing most of the water into the second stream, one that Beau champ and Jensen had agreed was previously unsuitable for spawning.“The[second] stream was now flowing beautifully. The gravel was clean and clear,” Jensen said. But most important ly, “It was chock full of grayling.”
Dr. Jeff Jensen is a senior lecturer in the division of biolog ical sciences at UW, and even accompanied Beauchamp on one of his forays in the ’80s. Picking up where Beauchamp left off, Jensen recently took up the mantle of the grayling study with an idea: If these fish have been able to hack out an unlikely existence here since the ’40s, would that now be threatened by climate change? Even Beauchamp had seen signs during his studies that low flow years might jeopardize the population. Simply put: If the seasonal snowpack dwin dles, will these fish be able to survive? The first year, equipped with various flow meters, data loggers and grad students, Jensen beat his way into the lake, needing to employ a ladder at one point to cross a high river. There they found the lake frozen in time since Beauchamp had seen it. The same stream provided spawning habitat, the same studiously-plotted willows still grew. But most signifi cantly, the survivors continued to survive.
And not only that, but grayling were also now spawning at the log jammed outlet of the lake, something Beauchamp had never noted. Here, playing out before Jensen, was a re al-time stress test of the grayling’s ability to shoulder a major habitat shift, and to everyone’s surprise, the grayling were managing it with aplomb.
The next morning at the lake, we roll out of dew-covered bags and immediately back into the fray of mosquitos that haven’t left our side all night. It turns out 60 or so acres of warm and shallow water is good at sustaining more than just grayling. We skip breakfast and instead walk back down into the lake, wading hip deep with the sun at our backs.
“The message I took from all of that was that they are a lot more flexible in terms of where they spawn then we had thought earlier, and that maybe the population will do better in the face of whatever changes with changing snowpack,” Jensen said.
FALL 2022 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE 41 The Bellingham winter community comes together for a fun evening to support avalanche awareness in the Pacific Northwest. Great food, beer, and lots of chances to win adventure gear and other great raffle prizes benefiting NWAC.* e perienceX MAGAZINE Mount Baker www.mountbakerexperience.com JOIN US Thursday, October 20 l 6-9 PMWHEREWHEN 1107 Railroad Ave.l BENEFIT A CELEBRATION FOR THE FUNDRAISER FOR NWAC CenterAvalancheNorthwest Showing decades of Mt. Baker Slush Cup Videos & retro Warren Miller movies. *Raffle proceeds go to NWAC FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT: B eer G arden
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Acme General Store, 2035 Val ley Highway, provides gas and groceries to the small town of Acme, east of Stewart Mountain on Highway 9. The store is a pop ular breakfast spot for loggers during the summer. In 2023, the store will also be turning 125, and owners Steve and Jacki Rossing will celebrate 25 years owning the store in Jan uary 2023. Jacki said in their 25 years Sue has been their most valuable asset.
When Sue Mas ters has a day off from work at Acme Gener al Store, customers routinely ask, “Where’s Sue?” She’s a staple at the store and in October will be cele brating 37 years as an employee.
Acme is home for Sue. She grew up in town, moved to Seattle for a bit when she was young, but re turned home and has been work ing at the store ever since.
“How many people stay at a job 37 years these days?” Jacki said.
“She's a small town girl, who doesn’t like to draw attention her way and can be a little shy all the while holding her own when teased by the regulars,” Jacki said. “Sue is a staple at our store, and the store will not be the same when she decides to retire.”
Sue opens the store regularly through the week at 4 a.m., even though the store’s posted hour is 4:30 a.m. She provides notary service and helped the Rossings transition to retail manage ment when they took over the store in Recently1998.asked how long she will keep working at the store, Sue replied, “Till I drop!”
FALL 2022 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE 43
BELLINGHAM SEAFEAST: Sep tember 17. Bellingham waterfront. Get a taste of maritime culture and heritage at this fun festival, celebrat ing a thriving working waterfront and the seafood it produces. More info: bellinghamseafeast.org
MT. BAKER HILL CLIMB: September 11, Glacier. 23 mile climb up Highway 542. Ascend 4,098 feet from Glacier to Artist’s Point on Mt. Baker. More info: bakerhillclimb.com
NWAC BENEFIT: October 20, Bell ingham. The Bellingham winter com munity comes together for a super fun event and fundraiser for Northwest Avalanche Center in the Beer Garden at Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro. Retro Warren Miller movies, and raffle for lots of cool outdoor gear. More info: mountbakerexperience.com your own at mountbakerexperience.com 360-332-1777.
44 MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2022 MountBakerExperience.com
RACE: October 15, a GRBC 10 mile race at Blanchard State For est south of Bellingham. More info: blanchardbeast.com TRAILS TO TAPS: October 16, Bell ingham. Team up with friends and run from brewery to brewery with a party at the end. 10 stops at breweries and cider ies with 30+ miles of trails, roads and parks with leg lengths between 1.6 and 5 miles. 5-10 runners per team. More info: trailstotapsrelay.com
BLANCHARD BEAST TRAIL
MAP Mt.WASHINGTONBaker 2022 - 2023 www.MountBakerExperience.com A special publication of e perienceX MAGAZINE Mount Baker Photo by Tony Petricevic GLACIER Chair 9 WakeLuxuryBluePizzaWoodstone&BarTLodgeGetawaysNBakery MAPLE FALLS Crossroads Grocery Mt. Baker Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center Mt. Baker Lodging Weichert Realtors SUMAS Kelley Insurance Valley Plumbing & Electric ThousandCampgroundsTrails ACME Acme General Store Acme Diner BELLINGHAM Coldwell Banker Bain/ Jeff and Bethnie Morrison MB Motors NUGENT’SDEMING/ CORNER The North Fork Brewery WCW Cannabis EVERSON Holly’s Meat Pies Herb Niemann’s Steak & Schnitzel House Kelley Insurance LYNDEN RE/MAX Whatcom County Pickcopy!yourupFREE Want your business on the Mt. Baker Map? Email: sales@pointrobertspress.com COMEWITHJINGLEUS! JBR.org/bellingham Locally Presented by Volkswagen of Bellingham 2210,Dec.Sat.
BLAINE OYSTER FEST: October 8. Downtown Blaine. Oysters, oys ters and more oysters. Contests, craft beers, family activities, Drayton Har bor Oyster Farm tours. More info: blainebythesea.com
EVENTS Streets and Trails • Business Directory Events and Useful Contacts PICK UP YOUR FREE COPY at Glacier Public Service Center and the following businesses and visitor centers or call Mount Baker Experience at
BAKER LAKE 50/25K: October 1 & 2, Baker Lake Kulshan Campgrounds. The 50K on Saturday is a trail run through the Mt Baker-Snoqualmie Na tional Forest. 25K on Sunday.
BELLINGHAM BAY MARATHON: September 24 & 25, Bellingham. Fea turing views of Bellingham Bay, San Juan Islands, and North Cascades mountains, we are often called one of the most beautiful road races in the Pacific Northwest. 5K and 10K on Sat., Half and Full marathon on Sun. More info: bellinghambaymarathon.org
RUN WITH THE CHUMS: Septem ber 10. BP Highlands, Ferndale. 10th annual 5K Fun Run & Smolt Sprint celebrating healthy water, healthy hab itat and healthy people. Free event and beautiful views of Whatcom Coun ty beaches and shoreline. More whatcomcd.org/run-with-the-chumsinfo:
BIG HURT: September 24, Port An geles. A four-leg test of endurance, strength and tenacity intertwined with the beauty of the North Olympic Penin sula. More info: bighurtpa.com
GOAT RUN (GREAT OLYMPIC ADVENTURE TRAIL RUN): Sep tember 10. Port Angeles. Point-to-Point Half marathon, marathon and 50K trail race on the Olympic Peninsula. More info: peninsulaadventuresports.com
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BELLINGHAM TRAVERSE: Sep tember 10. Bellingham’s Boundary Bay Brewery & Bistro. Run, bike and pad dle Bellingham’s scenic parks, wind ing trails and open waterways, and celebrate the important journey of wild salmon in our region. More info: bellinghamtraverse.com
FALL 2022 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE 45 TRAILS TO TAPS RELAY 30+ Miles / 10 Breweries / Team Fun Run October 16, 2022 trailstotapsrelay.com MT. HILLBAKERCLIMB Glacier to Artist Point Ascend 4,462 feet in 22 miles September 11, 2022 bakerhillclimb.com EVENT SPONSOR Made possible in part by a Tourism Grant from Whatcom County. USE CODE MBE22S10 FOR 10% OFF EITHER EVENT
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