Mount Baker Experience • Fall 2014 by Point Roberts Press

ADVENTURES IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

FALL 2014

Ice Climbing COLEMAN GLACIER

Bike Trek DOWN THE COAST

NORTH SHORE

Search and Rescue

Kayaking

DECEPTION PASS

MOUNTBAKEREXPERIENCE.COM

SPECIAL PUBLICATION OF THE NORTHERN LIGHT FALL 2014 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

WhidbeyPanoramas.com Photo by M. Denis Hill

e r o l p Ex

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MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2014

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Saturday, September 20th Thank You To Our Sponsors, Media & Partners

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Northwest Traverse.com FALL 2014 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

TICKETS ON SALE AT

SEPTEMBER 8TH!

DON’T MISS LIFT TICKET AND RETAIL OFFERS. WIN SKIS, TRIPS AND SWAG! CHECK OUT F O R M O R E IN F O

BELLINGHAM MOUNT BAKER THEATRE NOVEMBER 14TH, 8PM PORTLAND EUGENE SALEM RICHLAND YAKIMA SPOKANE BREMERTON

10/24 & 10/26 10/25 10/30 10/29 10/30 11/1 11/13

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MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2014

11/14 11/15 11/15 11/19 11/20 11/21 & 11/22 11/25 & 11/26

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eCUaDOR • CanaDa • PatagOnia • PeRU • sWitZ

Follow the Sun to

Fall Rock Climbing

All levels – from learning the basics to learning to lead. Erie • Leavenworth • Squamish Red Rock • Joshua Tree • Moab

American Alpine Institute

BOliVia • nePal • FRanCe • DeseRt ROCK

alasKa • CasCaDes • ROCKies • sieRRa • aRgentina • China • Chile

1515 12th st • Bellingham • 360-671-1505 • alpineinstitute.com/Baker

NORTH CASCADES INSTITUTE COMING UP THIS FALL Art Classes • Family Getaways • Sourdough Speaker Series Field Excursions • Birding • Snake Count • Hawkwatching Mushrooms • Group Rentals • Graduate M.Ed. Degree and more!

PHOTO\GRANT GUNDERSON

FALL 2014 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

FALL 2014 in this issue

PHOTO\ GARRETT GROVE

PHOTO\ANDY PORTER

GREAT FALL HIKES For Northwest foliage

8 THE SEASON OF SERACING

LEARNING TO FLY FISH

20 NORTHWEST WINES

Celebrate your favorite beverage

Fast, tasty and convenient

14 GEOCACHING

46 TRAINING FOR THE NEW ALPINISM

Riding down the coast

48 THE LAST VIEW

26 PHOTO GALLERY

A global treasure hunt

First roundtrip from Bellingham Bay

Crushin’ some grapes

24 COASTAL BIKE TREK

13 FOOD TRUCKS

RUNNING MOUNT BAKER

On the Skagit River

Ice climbing on Coleman Glacier

10 BELLINGHAM BEER WEEK

PHOTO\ED MEGILL

30 WOLVES IN WASHINGTON

Lessons from the Yellowstone Wolf Project

Q&A with authors Steve House and Scott Johnston

38 NORTH SHORE RESCUE

The stories behind the saviors

32 CASCADE LOOP DRIVE

A scenic auto tour

34 FALL GEAR GUIDE

Gear up for the season

36 WHERE TO STAY & EAT

22 6

LOCAL CX PRO

Courtenay McFadden

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2014

Dining and lodging guide

42 AUTUMN EVENTS

All the parties you want to go to

43 RECREATION NORTHWEST

New park stewards

MOUNTBAKEREXPERIENCE.COM

PHOTO\ GARRETT GROVE

40 EXTREME Sea Kayaking

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE PUBLISHERS Patrick Grubb and Louise Mugar EDITOR Ian Ferguson

STAFF WRITERS Steven Guntli • Kara Furr PUBLICATION DESIGN Doug De Visser

ADVERTISING DESIGN Ruth Lauman • Doug De Visser ADVERTISING SALES Catherine Darkenwald • Janet McCall Molly Ernst • Judy Fjellman SALES & EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Kara Furr OFFICE MANAGER Amy Weaver

CONTRIBUTORS IN THIS ISSUE: Radka Chapin, Ryan Duclos, Chris Duppenthaler, Garrett Grove, Grant Gunderson, Dylan Hallett, Carly Hubbard, Jason Hummel, Justin Kious, Aubrey Laurence, Sue Madsen, Jason Martin, Ilona Popper, Andy Porter, Daniel Probst, Rylan Schoen, Jane Seyd, Taylor Smith, Colin Wiseman EMAIL: info@mountbakerexperience.com WEB: www.mountbakerexperience.com FACEBOOK: facebook.com/mtbakerexperience TWITTER: twitter.com/MB_Experience If you can see Mt. Baker, you’re part of the experience. Mount Baker Experience is an outdoor recreation guide for and about the Mt. Baker region, distributed from Seattle to Vancouver, B.C. and published by Point Roberts Press, Inc. Locally owned, the company also publishes The Northern Light, All Point Bulletin, Pacific Coast Weddings, Waterside and area maps. Vol. XXVIII, No. 3. Printed in Canada. ©2014 POINT ROBERTS PRESS 225 Marine Drive, Blaine, WA 98230 TEL: 360/332-1777 NEXT ISSUE Winter 2015 • Out mid-November Ski • Snowboard • Climb • Bike Ad reservation deadine: Oct 17 CORRECTION In the article “Rock climbing with kids” in the summer issue, Jeremy Wilson took the header photo. We regret the error.

ON THE COVER Jeremy and Sarah Amrhein hike towards Marmot Pass in the Olympics. Photo by Grant Gunderson. grantgunderson.com

PUBLISHER’S NOTE BY PAT GRUBB

ow, that was a summer to remember. Sunny day after sunny day with only a few rainy ones thrown in (they were record-breaking downpours, though). As I write, it’s too soon to say whether we’ll have an Indian summer but NOAA is calling for higher than normal temperatures with lower than normal precipitation for fall. So – what does that tell us? It tells us to get out there and have an adventure. This issue should help you come up with some ideas. Go biking. Jump into a waterfall. Shoot a tidal bore in a kayak. Or just go

have a beer or glass of wine or two. Chill. Before the real chill sets in. We’re pleased to sponsor the Bellingham showing of Days of My Youth, a ski movie collaboration between MSP Films and Red Bull Media House. (MSP Films did McConkey – you know they’re good!) The screening takes place Friday, November 7 at Aslan Brewing Co. and will be a fundraiser for Northwest Avalanche Center and the Snohomish Helicopter Rescue Team. There will be plenty of swag raffled off – great stuff from companies like Lib Tech, Helly Hansen, AAI, Backcountry Access and more. Come out, have some brews, cheer and raise money for two deserving organizations.

CONTRIBUTORS CONTRIBUTORS MBE Fall 2014

RadkaCHAPIN

Radka Chapin is an avid alpine climber and backcountry skier who never leaves the house without her camera.

AubreyLAURENCE

Aubrey is an artist and a freelance writer who has written about craft beer, hiking and climbing for a variety of publications in Colorado and Washington. He lives in Bellingham with his No. 1 climbing partner, his wife Jen, and their two cats.

GarretGROVE

SueMADSEN

GrantGUNDERSON

JasonMARTIN

CarlyHUBBARD

AndyPORTER

Garrett Grove was raised in the PNW but it wasn’t until college that climbing, biking and skiing really started to take over his life – and subsequently photography. He now considers himself lucky to pursue these passions professionally, well at least the photography part. Currently residing in Leavenworth, WA.

One of the ski industry’s pre-eminent photographers, Grant has shot for every major snow sports and outdoor publication worldwide. In addition to his editorial work, Grant supplies the world’s top brands with images that define the culture of action sports.

While her delight for adventure and work as a wildland firefighter enable journeys near and far, Carly loves the Pacific Northwest best. She enjoys climbing up rocks, sliding down snow, and reveling in the good company of her canine companion, Magwah.

JasonHUMMEL Jason Hummel is a Pacific Northwest born and bred photographer and storyteller. If you run into him it will be on a mountain, snow, water, trail or sea with a camera blocking his face, but not the incredible views being captured.

JustinKIOUS Born and raised in the Pacific Northwest. Constantly trying to capture fresh lines.

Sue backpacks, climbs, sails, scuba dives, skis, snowshoes, kayaks and rigs the odd oversized fossil to low-flying helicopters. In her spare time, she has bagged degrees in forestry and fluvial geomorphology, and she now works as a stream/salmon restoration ecologist for Skagit Fisheries Enhancement Group.

Jason is a professional mountain guide, the general manager at the American Alpine Institute and a widely published outdoor writer. He has authored several authoritative guidebooks. Jason lives in Bellingham with his wife and two young children.

Andy Porter began his love of the outdoors when, at the age of 16, he completed a month-long Outward Bound Program in the Sawtooth Wilderness of Idaho. Since then he has hitchhiked across the US; trekked in the Andes; lived in Siberia and now lives in the northwestern corner of Washington state.

RylanSCHOEN A fortune cookie once told me: “This is a good time for you to enjoy the outdoors.” I have always trusted that cookie.

JaneSEYD

Jane Seyd is a reporter for the North Shore News where she writes on  crime, politics and occasional bear sightings in North Vancouver and  West Vancouver, British Columbia. She has won a number of awards for  her feature articles. Her stories also regularly appear in the Vancouver Sun and Province newspapers.

FALL 2014 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

It’s

SERACing Season

ICE CLIMBING on the COLEMAN GLACIER

PHOTO\ANDY PORTER

BY JASON D. MARTIN

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2014

MOUNTBAKEREXPERIENCE.COM

PHOTO\RADKA CHAPIN

s the summer comes to a close in the Northwest, people start to think about winter. For most of us, autumn is the season when we do the least amount of recreation. It’s often rainy and there isn’t much snow yet, so we go to the gym and get outside on the odd clear day. Ironically though, the fall season provides the best conditions of the year for one mountain sport: Seracing. A serac is an ice tower found in an icefall on a glacier. Seracing refers to the full gamut of low-commitment glacier ice climbing, including climbing out of crevasses, climbing natural bulges and ramps, as well as climbing seracs. Seracing is also incredibly fun. It essentially takes all the things out of ice climbing that make people dislike the sport, and keeps everything that makes people fall in love with it. You still get all the medieval-looking equipment and you still get to bash away at a climbing objective, but you get to do all that without subfreezing temperatures and chest-deep snow. Since temperatures are warmer than in mid-winter, the ice is consistently plastic – we call it “hero ice.” Our own Mt. Baker hosts one of the most easily accessible glaciers with good seracing ice in the continental U.S. The Coleman glacier is only a little over 3 miles up a well-maintained trail, and the lower Coleman in particular provides an exceptional amount of terrain for beginner to advanced-level climbers. Throughout much of the year the Coleman is covered with a thick blanket of snow, which often hides the best terrain for climbing while also obscuring dangerous crevasses. The summer heat melts the snow off the glacier to reveal thousands of possible ice climbs, but while the ice is climbable in the summer months, it’s often rotten and wet. In the fall, the cool autumn air keeps the ice

plastic and fun. Often when people think of icefalls, they think of the most infamous icefall in the world: the Khumbu icefall on Mt. Everest. The Khumbu is constantly moving and everything in it – from massive walls of ice to 10-story-tall ice towers – is in a never-ending state of collapse. Dozens of people have been killed there, crushed under falling ice. The Coleman glacier is nothing like the Khumbu. The ice is moving, but at a much slower pace. The climber’s left-hand side of the Coleman icefall is significantly less stable than the climber’s right-hand side, but by avoiding the left side of the icefall and by making good decisions about where to climb, individuals can avoid most of the objective danger posed by the area. There is one odd danger that climbers on the lower Coleman have to manage. It’s common for people to climb on the glacier when the temperature is well above freezing. When it’s warm enough, solar radiation tends to melt out ice screw anchors, even on cloudy days. This can happen in as little as 30 minutes, so it’s important to put snow or ice over screws to protect them from the sun and to check them regularly. Another option is to incorporate a “v-thread” into your anchor. These tend to last longer than ice screws. There are three types of climbing that take place on the lower Coleman: crevasse climbing, icefall tours and classic seracing.

top ropes, but occasionally people lead. If you intend to serac at one or two areas throughout the day, it’s important to ensure that the places you choose are safe from objective danger. The most obvious danger is falling ice, but occasionally there are deep open crevasses or even deep pools of water next to good ice cliffs. When choosing a climbing site, make sure there isn’t a lot of debris around, as this could be a sign of instability up above. It’s also important to make sure that the feature you intend to climb is secure. There’s no surefire way to know if something is going to collapse or not, but if there are cracks above or if the feature appears to be leaning over, it’s probably not a good idea to climb on it. Mt. Baker is a very special mountain. Every season, it has something to offer. We ski in the winter and spring. We hike and climb the mountain in the summer; and in the fall, we serac. What more could you ask for?

ICEFALL TOURS

Drive up Mt. Baker Highway to the town of Glacier. On the east end of town, just before you reach Chair 9, turn right onto Glacier Creek Road. Drive 8 miles up the road to the Heliotrope Ridge Trailhead (Northwest Forest Pass required). Hike up the Heliotrope Ridge trail for approximately 3 miles. When you reach the junction with the sign that says, “Climber’s Route,” go left. Do not go up the climber’s route. Continue for 10 minutes to the ridgeline and viewpoint above the Coleman glacier. To access the glacier, drop down the heavily treed ridge and into the flat camping area affectionately referred to as Mirkwood by American Alpine Institute guides (elevation: 5,000 feet or 1,524 meters). Just below the lowest camp, a steep trail just left of a muddy gully descends down through the woods and onto the terminus of the glacier.

An icefall tour is exactly what it sounds like – a tour of the icefall – and icefall tours are awesome! A good icefall tour encompasses a number of different ice climbing and mountain travel skills. One can boulder up short hard objectives, lead climb random lines and rappel down into large open crevasses that you can easily climb out of. The goal of an icefall tour is to explore and to move through the icefall without stopping to change up what you’re doing too much; all in order to experience the beauty and glory of the place. While travel on a dry glacier doesn’t require a rope, an icefall tour usually does. It also requires a leader who has good mountain sense and can actively lead steep pitches of ice. Without these two things it would be easy for a team to get stuck, lost or injured in the icefall.

CLASSIC SERACING The most common ice climbing practice on the lower Coleman is for a team to show up, scout the icefall for awhile and then find a nice ice cliff to set up. Most teams set up

HOW TO GET THERE:

Don’t have the skills to set up a Coleman ice climbing trip yourself? Contact the American Alpine Institute at 360/671-1505 or by email at info@alpineinstitute.com.

CREVASSE CLIMBING Many mountaineers lower themselves into crevasses to practice self-extraction or team-extraction rescue skills. However, the crevasses on the lower Coleman also offer an excellent opportunity for steep ice climbing practice while providing a serious forearm pump. With lines measuring over 100 feet FALL 2014 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

PHOTO\RADKA CHAPIN

long, lower Coleman crevasses consistently harbor some of the longest ice lines available in the area. The best way to manage a crevasse climber is to build an anchor a short distance from the lip of the hole and then lower the climber in. The belay system you choose must easily convert from lowering mode into climbing mode. There are several ways to do this, but one simple option is to use a munter-hitch with an autoblock backup for the lower. When the climber starts back up, you can simply belay him up as he moves without changing anything. When there is no snow on the glacier in the late summer and fall, the lower Coleman becomes a “dry glacier.” You can see where all the crevasses are, so there is no need to rope up when you get onto the glacier in order to manage crevasse hazards. However, if you intend to poke around at the edge of a crevasse in order to find a good spot to climb, you should definitely rope up for security.

MASTERS of their CRAFT Celebrate the season with craft brewers from across the PNW at

Bellingham Beer Week 2014

PHOTO\AUBREY LAURENCE

here’s nothing like ending a long hike on a crisp fall day with a good beer. For 10 days in September, you can raise pints of the tastiest brews in the region with the very people who brewed them. The third annual Bellingham Beer Week (BBW) will run from September 12 through September 21 in the Bellingham area. Organizers expect it to be even better than last year’s festival, which saw more than 50 unique events at 20 different venues featuring two dozen local and regional breweries. Events taking place during this celebration of craft beer include tap takeovers, brewer nights, beer-and-food pairings, the Barleywood Squares game show, a slew of special beer releases, a homebrew demonstration, visits from respected brewers and beer writers and much more. All seven of Whatcom County’s breweries plan to participate, and all five Bellingham

STRENGTH FOR THE SLOPES

October & November sessions. Sign up today to prepare for the season. BELLINGHAM PROGRAM CENTER WHATCOM FAMILY YMCA www.whatcomymca.org

Photo provided by TMitchellPhoto.com

Bellingham Bar Grill Burgers • Steaks • Seafood Lots of Appetizers Two 22’ ables ard T Shufflebo

7 Pool Tables Sports Entertainment 10 Huge Flat Screens

Mountain Fitness

360 733 8630

breweries will have open houses on Saturday, September 13, from noon to 3 p.m., giving you a chance to take brief tours and ask brewers questions. On Wednesday, September 17 at 6:30 p.m., Pickford Film Center will have a special showing of the documentary “Crafting a Nation,” which highlights several key players in the American craft beer movement. Sour-heads will want to attend Elizabeth Station’s Sour Fest on Saturday, September 20, which will feature more than two dozen sour ales on tap. Elizabeth Station will also host other events, including a Cascade Brewing Tap Takeover and an evening with Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales owner Ron Jeffries. The Elysian Tap Takeover at McKay’s Taphouse & Pizzeria on Saturday, September 13, will be epic, with roughly 50 of Seattle’s Elysian Brewing beers on tap. Other beer

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2014

Happy Hour 4-7 daily • Ongoing Drink Specials 14 Beers on Tap • Full Bar Monday Karaoke

Open 7 Days a week 1408 Cornwall Ave • (360) 733-2579 www.BellinghamBarAndGrill.com MOUNTBAKEREXPERIENCE.COM

A HOPPIN’ WEEK

bars are planning events as well, including The Copper Hog, The Green Frog, The Local Public House, Das Schweinhaus, Greene’s Corner and Maggie’s Pub. Kulshan Brewing will have a Beer Trivia Night on Monday, September 15, and will host a brewers’ bocce tournament. “We’re really pumped to be a part of Bellingham Beer Week again,” said Chris Noskoff, systems manager at Kulshan. “We will have some rarities on tap, including the 2013 Bellingham Beer Week collaboration beer, which is a Belgian-style dark strong ale, as well as some nicely aged cans to go.” This year’s main event will be Bellingham Oktoberfest at Depot Market Square, which will benefit the Volunteer Center of Whatcom County. This event will feature music, food and beer from about 30 breweries from across the Pacific Northwest. BBW will coincide with other beer-related events featuring local breweries, including the Bite of Bellingham, Chuckanut Century, Sustainable Connections’ Eat Local Month, the Bellingham Traverse and 5Point Film Festival. Of course, beer will be the connecting

thread. Many local and regional breweries will brew limited-release beers in celebration of Bellingham Beer Week, including Whatcom Wheat, a collaboration beer made by all of Whatcom County’s brewers, which will be available at various locations on draft and in 16-ounce cans. Chuckanut Brewery will be releasing Locavore Alt, made for BBW. “We haven’t brewed an alt in quite a while, so we’re excited about this beer,” said Mari Kemper, co-owner of Chuckanut Brewery. “This alt will be extra special because it will be made with malt produced at nearby Skagit Valley Malting!” Also look for special BBW beers from 10 Barrel Brewing of Bend, Oregon and Fremont Brewing of Seattle. “Bellingham Beer Week is a true community collaboration, and it’s a win-win for craft breweries and beer enthusiasts,” said Aubrey Laurence, BBW planning committee chairman. “But let’s not forget the main point of it all, and that’s to have lots of fun.” For more information and to see the continuously growing calendar of events, visit bellinghambeerweek.com and facebook. com/BellinghamBeerWeek.

Most Bellingham Beer Week events will be free to enter. Coming to Bellingham Beer Week in an RV? Mention it when making a reservation at Bellingham RV Park and receive 15 percent off your stay. (BellinghamRVPark.com) Many regional breweries will have tap takeovers and brewer nights, including Elysian, Machine House, Ninkasi, Deschutes, New Belgium, Melvin, Bale Breaker, Cascade, Fremont, Anderson Valley, Jolly Pumpkin, Firestone Walker, Full Sail and more. Purchase tickets to Bellingham Oktoberfest ($20 in advance) at Boundary Bay Brewery, Kulshan Brewing Company, Chuckanut Brewery, Community Food Co-op, Elizabeth Station or Village Books.

mtbakerguides.com 360-319-1160

Backcountry Skiing Avalanche Courses Ice Climbing

See the growing list of events here: bellinghambeerweek.com/ calendar.php

Photo Credit: Dave Brown

WHEREVER THE ADVENTURE, BOUNDER ON.

GOOD MORNING

Skiers and Snowboarders... 2014 -2015 SEASON PASSES ON SALE SEPTEMBER 15 For Details Or To Purchase Online, Visit Us At

www.mtbaker.us

1107 Railroad Ave. | 360.647.5593 | bbaybrewery.com

Mt. Baker Ski Area 1420 Iowa Street Bellingham, WA 98229 360-734-6771

Photo: Mike Yoshida

Discounted Rates Through Oct. 31

FALL 2014 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

Family Friendly HoPPY Hour Sun-Thurs 4-6

Award-Winning Beers Locavore Menu Bottles of Chuckanut Beer available now! Delicious Burgers, Pizzas, Seafood & More!

601 West Holly St. • Bellingham, WA

360-75-BEERS (752-3377) ChuckanutBreweryAndKitchen.com

Happy hour Daily from 3-6pm

“We’ll be waiting for you at the end of the trail.” Inside The Chrysalis Inn & Spa on Fairhaven’s waterfront. 804 10th Street Bellingham, WA 360-392-5510

thechrysalisinn.com

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2014

MOUNTBAKEREXPERIENCE.COM

BELLINGHAM

BURLINGTON

Several locations, including Kulshan Brewery, Wander Brewing and Samuel’s Furniture. Check their website for times and locations. streatfood.me 360/927-0011 StreEAT Food, open in Whatcom County since 2010, is a staple of the Bellingham food truck scene. StrEAT Food’s fresh, full-flavored menu of burgers, sandwiches, sides and desserts often draws long lines of hungry fans. Customer favorites like their chicken artichoke sandwich and StrEAT burger, the menu changes weekly. Check their website or Facebook page to see what’s on offer.

Monday–Saturday, 11 a.m.–7 p.m. Monday and Tuesday: 1376 S. Burlington Boulevard, Burlington Wednesday – Saturday: Various locations. Judy’s Lunch Box offers up quality American diner food with a bit of a wild side. Try a pastrami hot dog or the Bad Ass Sandwich, which Judy’s describes as “Basically everything on the truck between two grilled cheese sandwiches.” Or, if you’re looking for something a little less intimidating, order a BLT, garlic fries, hot dog or thick milkshake, all made from scratch with fresh local products. Mmmmmm.

StrEAT FOOD

Hungry?

FIND A FOOD TRUCK. BY KARA FURR

or anyone looking for a quick, inexpensive meal, a stop at a food truck is a great option. They offer the convenience of a fast food chain, but the food is usually higher quality, prepared by passionate chefs. Since they don’t have to pay rent, their prices tend to be lower than brick-and-mortar restaurants with comparable menus. With more and more people seeking out these specialty vendors, the food truck industry is booming in the U.S. and Canada, and the Mt. Baker region is no exception. Here are a few of our favorite food trucks.

VANCOUVER JAPADOG

Burrard and Smithe Street Burrard and Pender Street

JUDY’S LUNCH BOX

Waterfront Station 530 Robson Street 5973 Number 3 Road, Richmond japadog.com Japadog, which started in 2005 as a single food cart run by a recently transplanted Japanese couple, has now expanded to three carts, a trailer and a brick-and-mortar store. Serving up Japanese-style hot dogs with interesting toppings, Japadog’s popularity has skyrocketed. Their most popular offering is the Terimayo, a traditional hot dog topped with teriyaki sauce, mayo and seaweed. Even Japadog’s fries have a Japanese touch, with flavor options such as aonori (dried seaweed), butter and shoyu, and wasabi. Visit their website for a full menu and hours.

rejuvenate yourself this fall

Enjoy a Fall getaway at Semiahmoo Resort-Golf-Spa, Washington’s premier seaside retreat. Seaside adventures are abundant: • spot bald eagles on Semiahmoo Spit • have a bonfire on the beach • walk or ride a bike on the coastal trail • relax and get invigorated at the full-service Spa • enjoy a round of golf at two top-rated courses There’s no time like the present to experience Semiahmoo’s recent and extensive renovations – including the all new Packers Oyster Bar and introducing Pierside Kitchen. Fresh seafood and farm-to-table cuisine and waterfront views make for a memorable dining experience.

semiahmoo.com • 855-917-3767

Blaine, Washington • I-5 Exit 270

Coastal Hotel Group

FALL 2014 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

A Worldwide

PHOTO\ALEXANDRA DOLK

TREASURE HUNT

PHOTO\STEVEN GUNTLI

Searching for geocaches BY STEVE GUNTLI

t’s close now. My GPS readout is telling me it’s within 20 feet of where I’m standing. Maybe it’s shrouded by the tall grass that covers a halfacre to the north. Maybe it’s stashed in the branches of one of the gnarled trees to the south. Maybe it’s a devious tag, and it’s been disguised to look like that rusty padlock, or that nondescript rivet. Finally, I find it: a shopworn plastic container, dusty but intact, tucked into the roots of a tree. Inside, a motley collection of plastic spiders and rubber lizards, postcards, advertisements for yacht rentals and scuba diving medals. A tiny, bright orange notebook, its pages brimming with signatures and anniversaries and private jokes, commemorates the people who got here before me, a shockingly long list of names for this obscure little treasure in an obscure little field in Blaine, Washington. I add my name to the roster, reseal the container and set it back where I found it. It’s a seemingly inconsequential thing – a box of junk tucked under an old tree out in the wilderness, and I suspect any onlookers would think I was out of my mind as I trudged through the high grass in the middle of the day, smartphone in hand, puzzled expression on my face. But there’s a captivating sense of adventure connected to this little box. You get the sense that there’s a secret world of esoteric little treasures hiding in every corner of the globe, just waiting for you to find them. That’s the appeal of geocaching – the high-tech scavenger hunt that’s grown exponentially over the last decade. Geocaching sprung up in 2000, after the U.S. government removed the “selective availability” feature that limited most civilian Global Positioning System (GPS) devices. Suddenly, the average person had access to GPS technology as powerful as any used by the U.S. government. While the potential for mapping routes across the country has been realized by just about every smart phone and tablet on the market, the founders of Groundspeak, Inc. saw the seed of a

new sport. ington with instructions to take the item to Germany. Cachers who find the Trackable Jeremy Irish, Elias Alvord and Bryan will try to get it as close to its destination as Roth founded Groundspeak in Seattle just possible, and the owner can track the progfour months after the selective availability option was removed. Today, the company ress through the website. is at the forefront of a cottage industry, reIt’s the sheer volume of caches available, sponsible for designing and selling geocachand the often ingenious ways to find them, ing gear, accessories and apps. Their website, that makes the hobby so addicting. In a geocaching.com, is the largest geocaching recent blog post on geocaching.com, Dolk website in the world, with over two million recounted a geocaching expedition she took with her family throughout Blaine, which users in nearly 200 countries. The site is responsible for managing the huge communiyielded 15 finds. Those 15 are only a small ty of cachers around the world, keeping tabs fraction of the caches hidden throughout on missing or stolen caches and responding Blaine and neighboring Birch Bay. Groundto feedback from the community. speak claims on their website that most people in North America and Europe live Alexandra Dolk is one of the people responsible for keepwithin a short walk of ing this community at least one geocache. happy. Dolk, a 2009 Part of the appeal You get the sense that of geocaching is disBlaine High School there’s a secret world of covering interesting valedictorian, gradesoteric little treasures details about an area uated from the Unihiding in every corner of that you never would versity of Washington this year with degrees the globe, just waiting have noticed otherin environmental wise. For example, for you to find them. science and environa geocache entitled mental studies. She “Zombie Cam” led me now works at Groundspeak as one of the to a tiny lot less than 500 feet from my office. website’s community managers. There, I found a cache at the foot of an old The rules of the game are simple: find video surveillance tower that, through rust the cache, sign the logbook and if you take and paint, had adopted the pallid color of something from the box, leave something a zombie. I’ve walked past this hundreds of of equal or greater value in its place. How times and never would have noticed it. someone chooses to go about finding a Like any good recreational activity, an cache is up to them, either by following coentire language has sprung up to describe ordinates mapped out on a GPS device or the various goals, quirks and habits of geousing their smartphone’s built-in GPS capacachers. The most prestigious goal for a geobilities in conjunction with Groundspeak’s cacher is the elusive FTF, or “first to find.” geocaching app. Getting an FTF takes diligence, patience and Caches can vary in size, from as large as luck, and it helps to monitor the list of cachan ammunition box to as small as a button. es going up in an area frequently. Participants can store anything they want inA DNF, or “did not find,” lets the comside, as long as it’s legal and non-perishable, munity managers, like Dolk, know that the so no food, alcohol or illicit drugs. Trackcache wasn’t at the designated coordinates. Enough DNF complaints and the staff will ables, a new product launched by Groundspeak, are items with specific coded dog retire the posting from the website, so peotags that are put in a cache with a specific ple won’t waste their time searching for a destination in mind. For instance, a person cache that no longer exists. One may also could leave a Trackable in a cache in Washhear cachers use terms like “cords” (coor-

dinates), “GZ” (ground zero, or the site of a cache) or “muggle” (a non-cacher). Some cachers like to get tricky with their hiding places. Perhaps a tag will be attached to a floatation device and hidden inside a hollow fencepost, and the only way to retrieve it is to fill the post with water. Maybe the cache is disguised inside a fake piece of chewed gum or a false bolt hidden under a bench. These are called “devious caches,” and Groundspeak sells a variety of them on their website. Others like to get downright extreme with their hobby. Whether it’s embedding a cache in a cliff-side crevice or hiding one on the bottom of a lake, these caches tend to require skill, patience and a certain amount of daring to claim. It’s caches like these that inspired the designers of geocaching.com to develop their ratings system, which ranks caches on a scale of 1 to 5 for both terrain and difficulty. Dolk advises anyone wanting to give geocaching a try to check the difficulty rating before anything else. “A terrain rating of 5 means you probably need some kind of special equipment to find it, like mountain climbing gear or a boat,” Dolk said. “That’s only for the really hardcore people.” Dolk doesn’t count herself among the really hardcore geocachers quite yet. She has personally found around 120 caches, a pretty low number among her co-workers, some of whom have logged nearly 12,000 finds. The world record holder, according to Dolk, has logged about 100,000 finds since 2000. “To get to that level, you need to be kind of obsessed,” Dolk said. “That takes a lot of time and effort.” Dolk’s more casual approach to the hobby makes her a good point of reference for the community. She’s not about to go hanging off a bridge to retrieve a magnetic cache pinned to the struts; she just wants to spend some time outside. “I’m fairly outdoorsy,” she said. “I love to go hiking, and I enjoy the sense of adventure that comes with geocaching. It’s an extra little incentive to get outside.”

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Editor’s note: On August 1, Daniel Probst, Beat Jagerlehner and Aaron Poh set out from Cornwall beach on Bellingham Bay to run to the summit of Mt. Baker and back. Two days and 17 minutes later, they returned successful. The 100-mile journey was the first ever roundtrip run to Mt. Baker, and a nod to the Mt. Baker marathons of 1911, 1912 and 1913. Probst is now organizing the route into an annual ultra-marathon. The following is his account of the historic run.

The

RUNDOWN A FIRST HAND ACCOUNT OF THE FIRST ROUNDTRIP RUN FROM BELLINGHAM BAY TO MT. BAKER’S SUMMIT. BY DAN PROBST

e had breakfast at Mount Bakery Cafe (one of our sponsors) on Friday morning, filling up on waffles and crêpes piled with fruit. Friend Brent Molsberry dropped us off at Cornwall Beach after a boat ride across the bay to get a good look at Mt. Baker in the distance. A few miles into the run, Beat commented we had started below sea level. A crew from Kulshan Brewery, the founding sponsor of the run, had come down to send us off along with many friends. The Kulshan crew had planned to summit Baker with us but injuries and schedule conflicts got in the way. We started running at 12:15 p.m. Friday. It was an extremely hot and humid day.

Friends met us at the North Lake Whatcom trailhead with drinks and popsicles for the climb up Stewart Mountain. After descending the other side of Stewart, we stopped at Acme Diner for bacon, eggs and milkshakes. Mike Diehl was our crew from Acme out Mosquito Lake Road and past where Heisler's Ranch once stood on Forest Service Road 38. Heisler’s ranch is where Diehl’s great grandfather dropped Joe Galbraith off to start the on-foot portion of the Mt. Baker Marathon in 1911 (the race pit the train against the automobile as well as runners against each other). We arrived at the Ridley Creek trailhead at 1:30 a.m. on Saturday. Beat had been feeling nauseated until he had a sip of Kulshan Dude Man Wheat at mile 33. After regrouping, we set off for the mountain just after 3 a.m. Saturday. The start of the Ridley Creek trail required a sketchy log crossing over the Middle Fork Nooksack River in the dark. Then we ran up the unmaintained trail once used in the original races. After about 2.5 miles up the Ridley Creek trail we turned off the main path to bushwhack three quarters of a mile to Mazama Lake. We followed the original route, passing by the lake. Friends Steve and Shannon

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PHOTO\JILL HOMER

“We then pushed on to the summit and arrived at 2:25 p.m.”

Zellerhof were waiting near the lake and cooked us bacon, which I piled on my Rocket donut maple bar. Friends Chris Duppenthaler and Max McHale ran up from the Ridley Creek trailhead to join us for the mountain section. They chose to carry skis to more easily get around on the mountain. We reached the Easton glacier around 9 a.m. We fastened our Kahtoola crampons (another sponsor) to our running shoes, formed a four-person rope team and headed up the glacier. We were all feeling excited to be on the mountain with good weather and amazing views all around. This was the first time on a glacier for Aaron, Beat and Jill. I led the team up the glacier. At the lip of the Sherman Crater we took an old boot path that led us up to a giant crevasse at the base of Sherman peak. We traversed to the left and had to carefully cross the crevasses before reaching the edge of the crater. Everyone was a little nervous at this, but going back down and around was not appealing to anyone. We took our first rest at the crater and got maybe 15-20 minutes of sleep. We then pushed on to the summit and

arrived at 2:25 p.m. In honor of our founding sponsors we each enjoyed a can of Kulshan IPA on Koma Kulshan! I surprised everyone with an entire box of Rocket donuts that I had carefully packed up the mountain. After another rest we headed down the mountain. Now midday, the snow, as Jill put it, was “molten lava snow,” because it reflected the hot sun in our faces. It felt like being in a microwave. We kept noting the difference from the past run when it was freezing cold and soaking wet. We were now burning hot and couldn’t wait to get out of the sun. The views out over the bay were incredible, as the sun reflected off the water far off in the distance. We were all feeling extremely exhausted but greatly satisfied that we had made the summit. The rest was all down hill from here… sort of. I had my lowest point heading back down the scramble and the Ridley Creek trail as the orange glow of the sunset faded to dark. My pack felt like it weighed a ton and was crushing my shoulders. Dehydrated and still burning and overheated from the climb, I pushed as hard as I could to get back to the

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COLOR HUNTING Three fall hikes BY AUBREY LAURENCE

PHOTOS\AUBREY LAURENCE

PHOTO\GARRETT GROVE

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2014

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PHOTO\AUBREY LAURENCE

s the days become shorter and temperatures become cooler, biochemical processes begin to work their magic, transforming shades of green to a wide assortment of hues. This is when larch trees, berry shrubs, vine maples, alders and other deciduous trees display a riot of color for us to enjoy. Beyond the eye candy, autumn is an ideal time to hike because the weather is cooler, the trails are less crowded and there are fewer insects. Fall foliage in this region generally runs from mid-September through early November, although the vividness of color, when it shows up and how long it lasts is completely dependent on the kind of weather we receive before and during the season – specifically when it comes to temperature and moisture. Wet weather in early fall could inhibit color displays, but if we get a stretch of warm and sunny days with cool, above-freezing nights, we should be afforded an ideal show. Keep in mind, high elevations begin to turn before valleys and lowlands. There are many hiking options to witness fall foliage, but here are a few suggestions to get you started.

YELLOW ASTER BUTTE Yellow Aster Butte overlook elevation: 6,150 feet (1 ,874 m) Yellow Aster Butte true summit elevation: 6,241 feet (1,902 m) Total elevation gain: 2,550 feet (777 m) Round-trip distance: 7.5 miles (12 km) Driving directions: Take the Mt. Baker Hwy/East 542. About 12 miles (19 km) past the Glacier Public Service Center, turn left onto Forest Road 3065/Twin Lakes Road, which is just to the right of the DOT buildings. At the first junction, go left, and continue 4.5 miles (7.25 km) to the trailhead,

which is at a tight switchback. There’s a privy at the trailhead. A Northwest Forest Pass is required. This amazingly beautiful and understandably popular summer hike is even better in the fall. Just 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the trailhead, views open up and they continue to improve all the way to the top. If you catch it at the right time, berry bushes will carpet the slopes with multiple shades of oranges and reds. Early fall, be on the lookout for deliciously ripe blueberries and salmonberries. When you reach the overlook, you’ll

Roughly a mile (1.6 km) beyond Skykomish, turn left onto Beckler Road/Forest Road 65. Drive almost 7 miles (11.25 km) to a junction and take a hard right onto Forest Road 6520, just before going over Rapid River. In almost 3 miles (4.8 km), veer left, staying on 6520, and follow it for another 4 miles (6.4 km), then take a right onto Forest Road 6526, which leads to the trailhead, a decommissioned logging road at 3,700 feet (1,127 km). A Northwest Forest Pass is required.

LAKE ELAN VIA HEADLEE PASS

Hike along this undulating ridge in the relatively new Wild Sky Wilderness, and

Nestled between Vesper Peak and Sperry Peak, Lake Elan, also known as Vesper Lake and Headlee Lake, is a small, turquoise-hued tarn surrounded by granite slabs, massive boulders and steep talus slopes. On the drive in, just before the trailhead, you’ll get an intimidating view of Sperry Peak’s 3,000-foot (914 m) east face, as well as some golden pops of color at its base. This challenging trail begins in the forest, but it soon opens up to a valley rich with reds, oranges and golds, which contrast wonderfully against the deep-green pine trees. Across the valley, ponder the cliff-clinging bushes and trees that complement the rock slabs. Farther up, you’ll face the crux of the hike, the steep gully up to Headlee Pass. Beware of rockfall, and be careful not to kick rocks down onto unsuspecting hikers below you. If there is snow present, only proceed with the proper gear and training. After a short dip beyond the pass, there’s just one more push up across a talus slope to Lake Elan. Even though this alpine lake lacks fall vegetation, it is incredibly beautiful, and its monochromatic shores will actually give your eyes some respite before heading back down for Act 2 of the color show.

PHOTO\AUBREY LAURENCE

have unobstructed, 360-degree views of high, craggy peaks, multi-colored meadows, twinkling tarns and lush valleys. Adding to the color explosion, the nearby cliff faces and scree slopes of Mt. Larrabee provide veins of rusty oranges, reds and deep yellows. Tomyhoi Peak and the border peaks might even have dustings of snow, enhancing the contrast of the scene.

JOHNSON RIDGE TO SCORPION MOUNTAIN Scorpion Mountain summit elevation: 5,540 feet (1,688 m) Total elevation gain: 2,700 feet (822 m) Round-trip distance: 9 miles (14.5 km) Driving Directions: Take Hwy 2 east of Everett for about 50 miles (80.5 km).

enjoy sweeping views of colorful mountains, serene valleys and distant, jagged ridges. Along your journey to Scorpion Mountain, you’ll pass through Douglas fir and hemlock forests, cross over 5,050-foot (1,539 m) Sunrise Mountain and traverse slopes that gleam with golden grasses and crimson-hued huckleberry leaves. This hike has lots of ups and downs, including some steep sections, but if you can make it all the way to Scorpion Mountain, you’ll be rewarded with magnificent views of countless central Cascades mountains. As a bonus, you will have a commanding view of Joan Lake, sparkling 500 feet (152 m) directly below and just to your east. The rewarding views are wll worth the effort.

Lake Elan elevation: 5,000 feet (1,524 m) Total elevation gain: 2,700 feet (822 m) Round-trip dstance: 7 miles (11.25 km) Driving directions: From Granite Falls, take the Mountain Loop Highway (92) east. A few miles (5 km) past the Big Four Picnic Area, turn right onto Forest Road 4065/Sunrise Mine Road, and take this gravel road to the end (just under 2.5 miles or 4 km). A Northwest Forest Pass is required.

PHOTO\AUBREY LAURENCE

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ine wines from east of the Cascades in Oregon and Washington have put the Northwest on the map as a favored grape growing region. The high desert conditions of the eastern Cascades are typified by hot dry days and cool nights similar some of some of the best European appellations. Like craft brewing, small-scale winemaking caught fire in the late 1990s, and the enthusiasm for Northwest wines spilled over the Cascade Crest, leading to the establishment of a plethora of small wineries in western Washington and the Fraser River Valley in B.C. Local vintners are bold, unafraid to experiment and passionate about their products, offering an intriguing variety of both traditional as well as hard-to-find varieties of wine. Three main factors influence the type and quality of grapes grown for wine production: climate, geology and geography. This combination of characteristics comprises the grapes’ “terroir,” which can be loosely translated as “sense of place.” Small differences such as the type of rock the soils of a vineyard are derived from, the length of day during the peak growing season or location on a hillside rather than level floodplain result in vast differences in which grape variety will perform best. The Mt. Baker region spans the 49th parallel, and is therefore located towards the top of the band of latitude (~32 degrees N to 51 degrees N) where wine grapes grow well. One positive aspect of this location is our long summer days during the growing season; Washington vineyards receive about two hours more sunlight per day than Napa Valley. Our cooler climate tends to lend itself to production of white wine grapes, such as chardonnay and Riesling, as well as early ripening red wine grapes like pinot noir. Local vintners have experimented with a wide variety of grapes to identify the ones that perform best on their particular patch of ground, and thus less typical varieties such as Malbec and Viognier are readily available. One of my local favorites is Madeline Angevine, a crisp dry white wine with a flowery aroma that pairs especially well with seafood. With Whatcom County now representing the top berry producing region in the U.S., fruit wines are also common and worth a taste. A leisurely road trip to sample local wines makes for a fine fall outing. Most wineries have tasting rooms and are happy to provide both samples and a wealth of background information about the particular wines they produce. The Fraser Valley, Skagit Valley and the San Juan and Gulf islands are all grand places to grab a designated driver and embark on an exploratory tour.

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Q & A with COURTENAY MCFADDEN BY IAN FERGUSON

or readers who missed Quinn Welsch’s article in the spring issue of Mount Baker Experience, cyclocross is the fanatical love child of road biking and mountain biking. It pits racers against each other and themselves in an “hour of power” that tests the limits of their endurance and bike handling skills on a 2 or 3-mile circuit with obstacles. It’s a hell of a good time for both racers and spectators, with a tight-knit following that loves to party. That might help explain why cyclocross is the fastest growing discipline in cycling. Since turning pro two years ago, Northwest Washington native Courtenay McFadden has rapidly gained elite status in the cyclocross world, with consistent top-10 finishes in national races. Her racing took her to Belgium last year, where she participated in races put on by the International Cycling Union (UCI). McFadden took a moment out of her busy pre-season routine to chat with MBE. MBE: Tell us a little about yourself. CM: I am 29, I live in Bellingham and I grew up on Mercer Island. I came up to Bellingham when I went to Western and then just never left. I started racing cross in about 2010. Did the local stuff, and then in 2012 ventured down to Vegas during Interbike and did the big cross race there, Cross Vegas. It was right after I got married and I thought it would be fun to go and race against a bunch of pros and see how it would go. I ended up doing really well, and that kind of started my venture. In 2012, I started racing some of the bigger races in the U.S. Last year I decided to do it again. I knew I was having a great season last year; I finished almost all of my races in

the top 10, I went and raced in Europe for a couple of weeks and that’s kind of where I’m at now. I’m looking forward to the upcoming season. MBE: Cross is a mix between road biking and mountain biking. Which discipline do you relate to more? CM: I started out road racing, and I got into mountain biking after I started doing cross and have been slowly transitioning over to mountain biking. I don’t really enjoy road racing anymore, so I definitely prefer mountain biking. I do a lot of training on the road, because it’s good for endurance fitness, but mountain biking is good for skills and handling. So I think it’s good to have a good blend of both. MBE: Describe your training regimen. CM: Throughout the year it goes in cycles. In the beginning of the year it’s a lot of base miles. Just riding, and nothing too intense. As the year progresses, I’ve been adding a lot more interval training, with cross-specific intervals. The race for women is anywhere between 40 and 50 minutes, so you want to find intervals that are going to equate to racing the best. Cross requires other skills - dismounting, mounting, bike handling and running. Running is big. I think it’s important to get at least a day of running into your training be-

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cause you might be going through six inches of mud where it’s faster to run than it is to ride. I’ll do stair sets during a run to build that strength. Going up stairs with your heart beating 185 beats per minute, then getting on your bike and going is a really hard effort. If you can gap somebody on the stairs or on a hill, it’s really advantageous, especially if you’re efficient at getting back on your bike. So it’s good to have handful of skills other than just pedaling. MBE: What’s your favorite thing about cyclocross? CM: I love everything. It’s just a silly good time. I love the intensity and that it’s really hard, but it’s so fun. I did my first race and I think I crashed about five or 10 times but I had a smile on my face. I was like, “That was the most fun I’ve ever had on a bike. I need to do that again.” I think no matter what level you’re at, it’s a fun event. It’s kind of an all day thing if you choose to make it that way. There’s a big sense of community in the sport, which is what I really like, and I think that keeps drawing me back to it. All the people I’ve met through the sport are my friends now and you look forward to seeing everybody at race weekends. It’s just a nice sense of community and family – a great way to meet people. Everybody supports each other, everybody hangs out together. If you were to go to a local race you’d see people with all their tents lined up next to each other, and everybody just hanging out for the day, maybe people barbequing, drinking beer and just having fun. MBE: Where have you raced? CM: I have raced in Wisconsin, Colorado, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Kentucky, Iowa, California, Oregon, Washington obviously… I also raced in Belgium for two weeks last year. MBE: What’s your favorite series here in the NW? CM: I would say my favorite, which has been disbanded now, was the Seattle Series. They no longer exist because of some politics. The people who did it stemmed off their own race series called Cross Revolution. It will be interesting to see how that series goes.

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Of course the races that Ryan Rickerts puts on in Bellingham for the Cascade Cross series are always a good time. He puts together really fun courses. I probably won’t do too much local racing this year just because I’ll be traveling to UCI sanctioned races. We’ll see how the season unfolds, but I was counting up my seasons and laughing because between September 10 and December 10, I’ll only be home for three weekends. My husband also races, so he’ll probably do most of the local races. MBE: What’s your racing setup? CM: I’ll be riding the Rock Lobster frames; I rode for their team last year. I’m riding American Classic wheels, Clement tires and the new SRAM force CX1. MBE: Have any of your cross athlete friends inspired you or helped you out along the way? CM: Yeah, I’ve made a lot of friends who have helped me out along the way. I would say the person who has helped me the most has been Nicole Duke. She’s just been super supportive. I met her a couple years ago briefly and then we reconnected last year on the east coast. She’s really helped me put together my own program, helped put me in touch with contacts, helped guide me in the right direction and shown me what I needed to look for and what I had to do. MBE: Does cross culture differ greatly on the east coast from the northwest? Are there different flavors wherever you go? CM: I would say the culture behind it, cross culture, is going to be kind of the same wherever you go because it’s going to attract the same type of people, but over on the east coast there’s definitely a bigger pro scene. There are a ton of UCI races there. We really don’t have a well-developed UCI scene on the west coast. To put on a UCI race is a lot of money, so I don’t blame promoters for not wanting to do it, but it would be helpful for UCI racers on the west coast to have that option. The UCI also places certain restrictions on courses. The course has to be a certain width to allow for passing, whereas promoters for unsanctioned races can do whatever they want. They might put in two minutes of single-track, which would never be allowed in a UCI race. MBE: When is your first race of the season? CM: My first race is Cross Vegas on September 10. From there it will be a huge whirlwind of a season, but I’m excited. Nationals are at the end of the season in mid-January. I’m definitely looking forward to it. MBE: Good luck, Courtenay!

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been up there. Even though the sun was blazing down on us by early morning, we kept a good pace and all enjoyed running down the single track dirt trails on Stewart Mountain within the new Lake Whatcom reconveyance lands. The North Shore Road back to town was extremely hot. We pushed as hard as we could, and ran back from Stewart Mountain faster than we had run to the mountain so many hours before. As we ran the final mile down Cornwall Avenue with energy to spare, we heard the bells of the railroad crossing and the sound of the train whistle coming closer. Without pause and with the train still out of sight, we made a run for it to cross the tracks. A gathering of friends was waiting at the beach in anticipation of our arrival. We just made it through and the coal trail roared behind us as we ran the last 100 yards to the beach to

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trailhead. I didn’t stop to pull out my light and hiked the last bit of the trail in the dark. We once again crossed the log in the dark and stumbled into the trailhead. I pulled out my sleeping pad and bag, grabbed a bag of chips and something to drink and immediately started to shiver. After some time in my sleeping bag, rehydrating and putting down some calories, we rallied and headed off at midnight Sunday for the long 20-mile stretch back to Acme. We all had some caffeinated beverages before we left the trailhead but the sleep monsters were quick on our heals. On Mosquito Lake Road Beat started falling asleep while walking and would start walking off the road or into Aaron. No one wanted to stop and sleep, but I knew I had to. We found a grassy spot along the road and set the alarm for 15 minutes. I guess I heard the alarm first and, still in a dream-state, I yelled “Hey!” waking the other two up in a hurry. I had to stop one more time before daybreak for another 15-minute nap while the others continued. Cindy Pfeiffer-Hoyt (an Acme resident and friend) ran the last mile into Acme with me. She and her husband Russ had brought homemade pizza and Acme ice cream for us at 6 a.m. on Sunday morning. The pizza and ice cream hit the spot for all of us. Refueled and with the sun now up, we were ready to make the 25-mile journey back to Cornwall Beach. We all had smiles on our face, knowing the most challenging part was behind us. The view of Baker looking back was surreal – to think we had just

PHOTO\CAMI TASKER

BELLINGHAM BAY TO MT. BAKER RUN CONTINUED FROM PAGE 17

finish back where we had started. We waded back into the water and celebrated with another Kulshan IPA and giant slurpees that a friend had brought for us. We completed the roundtrip in 48 hours and 17 minutes. Probst and the Cascade Mountain Runners are hoping to rebuild the upper portion of the

Ridley Creek Trail, the original trail used for the Mt. Baker marathons, in partnership with Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest and the Washington Trails Association. To volunteer as a trailbuilder, send an email to cascademountainrunners@gmail.com. For more information, check out the Cascade Mountain Runners Facebook page.

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PEDALING

the Coast STORY BY CARLY HUBBARD PHOTOS BY KELLY SENSECQUA

t’s mid-October, late evening, and the autumn rain has begun. Snuggled into a 15-degree sleeping bag, the patter against our four-season tent soothes me and I’m glad my tarp-tent idea was vetoed. “Hey,” my cohort says, “sorry to wake you, but this is kind of important.” He has been rifling through belongings for several minutes and now sits amidst a chaotic heap of clothing and gear. “Do you remember if I had my jacket on when we fled the coon ambush?” I mentally rummage back an hour in time. The image arrives: two characters on bikes, one looking exceptionally akin to a hobo. The entire contents of his “panniers” are fastened via a bungee cord to the four plastic buckets affixed to his bike frame. “Hmm... Hard to be sure. Think so. Keep looking.” We are camped at the Columbia River’s mouth on a beautiful spit ironically christened Cape Disappointment by jaded explorers. Upon arrival earlier this evening we saw a gorgeous sunset and ripening moon rise against a backdrop of the Pacific while filling our bellies after the day’s 90-mile pedal. Following dinner and a stroll, I returned to our primitive hiker-biker campsite at the state park entrance to a scene of man versus raccoon. My compatriot stood brandishing a club of burning driftwood against an assemblage of glittering eyes. “Coons everywhere! I turned my back and there were two on the table finishing the leftovers!” The troop appeared keen on our metal food box. “They’re not even afraid of me!” my baffled partner exclaimed still gripping the blazing stick. This was no band of

novices, as we apparently were. I glanced toward our recently staked tent with its thin walls and back again to the extended family of clawed creatures upon whose territory we were obviously trespassers. They did not appear to be retiring anytime soon. Raccoons and rabies have long been synonymous in my mind. Accepting the flaming weapon, I marched toward my bike, unfortunately close to the coveted food box. “Watch out, coons!” Their marble eyes gleamed in the firelight, but they didn’t budge. “They’re not even afraid of me!” I echoed in awe and fear. With simultaneous unspoken conviction to relocate, we hastily gathered items strewn about the site, fastening each haphazardly to our bicycles. “See, the thing with those is they’re pretty simple to quickly load in the event of a night-time raccoon invasion,” my partner said with perhaps a hint of longing. He was commenting on my expensive and spacious waterproof Ortlieb panniers. I had sprung for them early on in our trip planning and never regretted the decision. My partner eschewed such finery, opting instead for four plastic buckets fastened with nuts and bolts to front and rear racks. They spoke of thrifty ingenuity if not sophistication. In a previous incarnation, the front orange and yellow containers once housed kitty litter. On the rear rack, two white mayonnaise buckets completed my partner’s gear stow. We were accustomed to the bike’s appearance, though it had drawn frequent stares from strangers. We relocated, re-pitched camp, and peacefully settled in. As my tent mate continued reacquainting himself with each item of personal inventory, I recalled how our duo came to be on the border of Washington and Oregon. 10 Days Earlier: “What’s the time?” I ask my companion as we pedal up a slight rise in the hazy October dawn. He passes an incredulous look in my direction and bares his naked wrists. My cell phone, our one legitimate tie to Pacific Standard Time, remains stowed inaccessibly in the deep reaches of a rear pannier. I hope it is not long after eight, but last minute adjustments and an odd bike weighing exercise delayed our intended early departure. We share a worried glance and silently quicken pace.

It is October 4. We are passing through a green tunnel of maples toward a shot of ocean. The marine fog shows promise of burning off by mid-morning. Perhaps sunshine today will even give way to a couple weeks of fair weather, as my companion and I optimistically reassure each other will happen. This being the Pacific Northwest and myself a born-and-raised native, I have no excuse for naïve autumnal weather forecasting. My fellow wayfarer is a transplant from the Rockies – though after living for three years in the “North Wet” he, too, can hardly claim ignorance of rain in the fall. We are bicycling from my hometown to Tsawwassen, B.C. where a ferry will deliver us to the shores of Vancouver Island. My uncle will meet us at the Swartz Bay terminal on the other side and take us to Victoria, unless we miss the 9 a.m. ferry. From Victoria, we will board a second ferry to Port Angeles on the Olympic peninsula. After a night in the local campground, westward pedaling on Highway 101 and a southern turn to follow the coastline, there will be no looking back until we are greeted by the Redwoods of northern California. This Pacific Coast bike tour will encompass the four remaining weeks of October and ultimately land us in San Francisco in time for Halloween. But first, an international border crossing. We chose to begin our journey here on the isolated peninsula of Point Roberts, Washington for its proximity to the B.C. Ferries terminal, and to my parents who are graciously caring for our dog while we adventure down the coast. Dangling from British Columbia’s Lower Mainland into the Strait of Georgia, this geographic anomaly is not physically connected to the rest of Washington state. Lacking an airplane or boat, one must pass through a border check into Canada to leave the Point. Doing so minutes later concludes the first of several odd and memorable crossings we encounter along our journey. We catch the appropriate ferry with minutes to spare and content ourselves on various homemade delicacies atop the boat’s blustery high deck. Gulls circle in hope of errant French fries. Entering Active Pass our eyes saucer at the looming green and rocky slopes of the narrowing channel walls. All about us islands beckon with the curious

beauty of unchecked terrain. This crossing never ceases to stun me. I wonder as always about the lives of those mysterious folk living on the remote outlying banks. My uncle kindly meets us as we funnel off the ferry’s vehicle deck aboard Surly bicycles. We discuss our road ahead – planned stops for camping, provisions and repair kits. Passing under leafed canopies that hint at a rainbow of colors to come, we roll by agricultural fields brights with pumpkins, and the largest sow my eyes have yet witnessed. Approaching Victoria, we enjoy a meet and greet with a local bike shop, enduring a stream of exclamations directed at the novel rigging system my companion cooked up. Mayo bucket panniers are apparently not all the rage in the randonneuring circles of greater Victoria. Following a warming lunch of soup and panini, we say so-long to my uncle and the island, board the Black Ball Ferry and prepare our passports for inspection as we re-enter the U.S. Evening approaches and the sky darkens, but Port Angeles is a small town and we have little trouble directing ourselves to a nearby campground. There, we chow down and set up camp. We are in true rainforest territory. An approaching mass of gray overhead gives me pause and I spend my final wakeful moments in gratitude for our supremely waterproof tent. The following days see us down the Peninsula coastline, our route undulating beside the rolling and frothy ocean. Our view from the highway shows a rich ecological history scarred by recent human activity. Through Forks and Kalaloch we drink in gorgeous stretches of glimmering water, then turn inland to Lake Quinault where we spend a night of tranquility near a spruce tree of deservedly reputed enormity. Further on, verdant old growth forests transfix us with their ancient vastness. Our human lives are a brief blink by comparison. We contemplate the juxtaposition of tracks of sudden clear-cuts during our hours of pedaling. Passing through nostalgic Aberdeen and the remains of a dwindling timber industry, we chew on thoughts of our human propensity for greed and error. We ride rolling emotions inspired by this ineffably beautiful landscape as we follow the curling reach of highway each day. At night we sleep hard in lush campgrounds balmy with salt air. We rejoice under frequent blue skies by freeing our extremities from Gore-Tex

shells, baring skin to slanted rays. Continuing down the road, the sparkling spit of Cape Disappointment State Park greets us and heralds the close of our Washington state leg. I am jostled from my reverie by a celebratory whoop. My elated companion flourishes his found jacket: success! Nestled in my cozy sleeping bag in the state park, I think about tomorrow, when we will turn eastward for some miles before arriving at the Astoria-Megler Bridge, our gateway to Oregon. We wake, drink in the final views off the spit, ride inland to the bridge, pull off the shoulder and stare. I gulp several shallow breaths, feel my heartbeat quicken and hazard a look my partner’s way. He is taking

T gy EShnolo T LA Tec

Green Scene E

in the impressive stretch of concrete linking the Columbia River’s north and south banks. It is long, and missing much in the way of a shoulder. It appears to be a windy place out beyond our sheltered end. Built to withstand Pacific gusts of up to 150 miles per hour and river currents of 9 mph, this 4.1-mile-long bridge boasts the longest section of continuous truss in the U.S. (1,232 feet). Near the Astoria end, it rises to an impressive 200 feet above sea level, finally depositing daring crossers in charming Astoria via a 360-degree corkscrew offramp. I do not want to cross it. I don’t even want to look at it anymore. Forget brilliant engineering strategies: I wonder about the potential for flats along that endless and

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wobbly edge, about the two-lane highway of wind-buffeted traffic so near the white line, and that exquisite second of forgetting to pedal, half a revolution all it would take to terminate uphill progress and commence a rapid retreat back down the steep bridge. I gaze into my comrade’s eyes with the earnest hope of one who desperately requires a different option and silently plea for a route change. It is to no avail. My would-be savior ends our conversational lull. “Ready?” More prod than question. I break eye contact, mount the steel frame that’s taken me this far, and begin the tooth-gritting crossing that marks another indelible passage along this captivating coastal journey.

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Facing page: A jumper leaps into the lower falls on the Lewis River. Photo by Jason Hummel. Top: Dawn breaks while climbing Mt. Stuartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s north ridge. Photo by Garrett Grove. Bottom Left: Rider Shawn Obro sends a line in Whatcom County. Photo by Justin Kious. Bottom Right: Campsite below Prusik Peak in the Enchantment Lakes. Photo by Grant Gunderson.

FALL 2014 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

Top Left: Eric Brown airs into a berm, Whatcom County. Photo by Colin Wiseman. Top Center: Standup paddle yoga on Lake Whatcom. Photo by Ryan Duclos Top Right: Unknown climber leads on pitch 3 of Rock On, 5.10a, Squamish, B.C. Photo by Taylor Smith. Bottom: Sunset over Mt. Baker. Photo by Rylan Schoen.

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Wolves in

WASHINGTON Lessons from the

YELLOWSTONE WOLF Project

BY ILONA POPPER

PHOTOS BY PETER MURRAY

n 2008, I watched three wolves kill a bull elk in Yellowstone National Park. It was the first time I’d looked up close at predation. I was a half-mile away, looking through a spotting scope. The three wolves were led by 527F, a sturdy black female, who had been radio-collared and numbered by Yellowstone Wolf Project personnel. Joining her were two uncollared wolves: a dark female and a large gray male. The male was so young, however, as to be mostly useless in this hunt. As an excerpt from my field notes on that day reveals, the task of predation takes wolves to the limits of their endurance: February 7, 2008: The wolves were chasing an elk ... I saw two wolves attach to the back legs and another grabbing the throat ... 527F kept closing on the bull’s throat. The bull would stand, lift her off her feet and shake her off. This occurred at least three times. Once when the elk fell, the wolves let go and just sat on the snow beside him as if needing to catch their breaths. All four animals panted together, like athletic teammates during a break. The gray male stood in the rear, taking in the scenery. After awhile, the bull stood and the wolves resumed trying to kill him…

WOLVES IN WASHINGTON

YELLOWSTONE WOLVES LED BY 527F, A STURDY BLACK FEMALE, HUNT A BULL ELK USING COURSING METHODS. WOLVES SUCCEED IN KILLING ONLY 15 PERCENT OF THE TIME.

This spring, 6 miles into the backcountry, hikers spotted wolf tracks along the shores of Lake Ross. Further investigation by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) confirmed that, for the first time since the 1930s, a wolf pack is in residence on the west side of the North Cascades. The Hozameen pack “spends most of its time in B.C. and overlaps into the Hozameen area when snow melts,” said Donny Martorello, carnivore section manager at WDFW. While wolves first appeared in Washington in 2005, there was no documented resident pack until 2008. Then a wolf from the Idaho/B.C. border hooked up with a disperser from coastal B.C. and created the Lookout pack, which still thrives in the Methow valley. As of December 2013, there were at least 52 wolves in Washington. Martorello said it’s still early days in the

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2014

march towards Washington’s state recovery objective: 15 successful breeding pairs for three consecutive years, equally distributed among three recovery areas: eastern Washington, the northern Cascades, and the southern Cascades and northwest coast. “In the past six years, we’ve seen about a 39 percent annual increase of wolves; the exact same sort of growth Idaho, Montana and Wyoming saw in their early years of recovery,” he said. Wolves were reintroduced to the Rocky Mountain states in 1995. If wolf populations are healthy and there’s enough food, young adult wolves disperse and form new packs. A pack like the Hozameen is the sign: wolves are moving into your neck of the woods. How likely are wolves to spread into Whatcom County? “We certainly expect it,” said Martorello. “There are enough prey – deer – at lower elevations.”

LESSONS FROM MONTANA What can Washingtonians anticipate about living with wolves? As a Montanan who lives on the edge of Yellowstone Park’s northern range, a hotspot for wolves, I’ve had a crash course in wolf biology and the debates over wolf management. Certain facts prove reassuring: Wolves are almost never a danger to people. In the history of North America there have only been two documented human deaths, in Canada and Alaska, attributed to wolves. Some wolf experts contend that one of those was actually caused by bears. If you encounter wolves in the backcountry, take a good look before

eating. Until then, I’d never thought about how exhausting and difficult it is for wolves to kill. I’d assumed that predators found killing easy. Instead, I learned that living as predators places wolves at the edge of their strength, precisely because they prey on animals much larger than themselves. Wolves are coursing, or cursorial, hunters. Coursers are running hunters. Wolves are like marathoners; chasing, wounding and tiring their prey before risking the final killing bites. Wolves are limited by their evolutionary choices as the smallest of the mega-carnivores in relation to their prey. Coyotes differ from wolves in that they hunt much smaller prey – usually rodents. Wolves routinely take down animals 10 times their size. So, wolves must choose weakened animals, attack from behind and retreat when faced down. Cougars, in contrast, ambush prey and cannot sustain long runs. Cougars succeed in killing prey about 85 percent of the time, while wolves kill only about 15 percent of their quarry. Wolves, as apex predators, are vulnerable to being stomped or killed by prey, losing their kills to marauding bears and scavengers and to starvation.

LESSONS FROM THE YELLOWSTONE WOLF PROJECT How many wolves are too many? Won’t they keep growing until they eat through their supply of prey? Answers come to us from Yellowstone’s Wolf Project, a nearly 20-year scientific study of what makes wolf populations grow.

WOLVES ROUTINELY LOSE THEIR KILLS TO BEARS.

they vanish like smoke. If they’re curious and linger, yell and they’ll clear out. Similarly, the killing of livestock by wolves, called depredation, has always been low in the Rocky Mountain states. In 2013 in Montana, 78 cows, sheep and other stock were killed by wolves, total. Domestic dogs kill more livestock than wolves do.

THE NATURE OF THE BEAST: COURSING HUNTERS Yet, there’s no question wolves are predators. What will wolves do to Washington’s ungulate populations – moose, deer and elk? Wolves are a paradoxical mix of toughas-nails and skittish-about-life-and-limb. That February day, 527F finally finished off the bull elk, gripping his throat as he battered her from side to side. Once the kill was done, she rested for 40 minutes before

Yellowstone is one of the few places in the world where wolves are both protected from human interference and intensively studied. These factors make the wolf studies in Yellowstone all the more valuable because they more accurately reflect the behavior of wild wolf populations. The data from Yellowstone shows us how wolves and ungulates balance out. “The dogma on wolves is that the number of wolves in an area is determined by food,” said Doug Smith, head of the Yellowstone Wolf Project. It’s called the biomass theory. Biologists have long known that wolves self-regulate when food is scarce. If their prey is culled by a particularly heavy winter, for instance, wolves cannot find enough weakened animals to kill. The next spring, the elk herds are smaller, but the individuals are strong. After several such winters in

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Yellowstone, wolf numbers plummeted. Unlike ungulates, wolves and other predators don’t eat through their food supply. When elk numbers drop, wolves start starving. They don’t ovulate, give birth or provide sufficient nourishment to their young, and they are vulnerable to diseases like mange. Now, Yellowstone data is adding to the biomass theory. Collaborating Yellowstone, British, and Utah biologists have learned wolves also self-regulate when there is more

than enough food, but not enough space to disperse. According to a paper in the Journal of Animal Ecology, “In Yellowstone the density of wolves begins reducing the wolf population because they kill each other,” said Smith. In lean times, wolves self-regulate by foregoing reproduction, while in fat times, wolves kill other wolves in territorial disputes if they are overcrowded. It’s not surprising then that so far science does not

show that higher wolf populations are the main cause for declines in deer and elk populations.

WOLVES IN YOUR BACKYARD? Scott Fitkin, a WDFW biologist, says we can live with wolves: “The take-home message for residents of Washington, many of whom have lived for most of their lives with cougars and bears on the landscape, is that wolves are just another large carnivore.

There’s a lot of hype and emotion that tends to circulate around wolves. The issues get blown out of proportion. We have the ability to manage conflict and to live alongside these animals.” Ilona Popper, poet and naturalist, lives near Yellowstone National Park and writes about wildlife. She’s currently working on a book about observing and living among wild wolves. Her blog is ilonapopper.wordpress.com.

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FALL 2014 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

CASCADE

TAKE HIGHWAY 20 THROUGH SCENIC SKAGIT VALLEY TO SEE BEAUTIFUL ROLLING FARMLAND ALONG THE SKAGIT RIVER.

Loop Drive

MT. BAKER

MOUNT VERNON PHOTO\ANDY PORTER

525 EVERETT PHOTO\ANDY PORTER

AS HIGHWAY 20 STARTS TO GAIN ELEVATION, HEAD OFF THE MAIN ROAD IN MARBLEMOUNT TO VISIT CASCADE PASS. FIND THE TRAILHEADS FOR MANY STUNNING HIKES ALONG THIS ROUTE.

WHIDBEY ISLAND IS THE SECOND LARGEST ISLAND IN THE LOWER 48, AND ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL. MAKE THE DRIVE FROM FIDALGO ISLAND OVER DECEPTION PASS FOR DIZZYING HEIGHTS AND SPECTACULAR VIEWS.

SEATTLE

PHOTO\JACK PENLAND

Sept. 13, 2014

Happy Hour Specials

3:00 at Eagle Haven Winery 8243 Sims Rd, Sedro-Woolley

ORENZO’S LMexican Restaurant

Best Mexican Food in Skagit County!

Lunch Specials Monday-Friday • Mexican style steakhouse specialties!

Bellingham

Sedro Woolley

360-527-3181

360-856-6810

190 E. Bakerview Rd. purchase online at sedro-woolley.com

902 Highway 20

Mt. Vernon

2121 E. College Way

360-848-7793

Discover the adventures in

Chewuch Inn Cabins & Lodging

The mountains are calling, I must go. — John Muir

YOU.

To learn more visit us at:

www.innerpassage.net

Winthrop, WA • 800-747-3107 • www.ChewuchInn.com 32

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2014

MOUNTBAKEREXPERIENCE.COM

NOTE THE CHANGE IN ECOSYSTEM AS YOU HEAD FROM THE LUSH WEST SIDE TO THE EAST SIDE OF THE CASCADES. THE IMPOSING LIBERTY BELL GROUP MARKS WASHINGTON PASS.

WINTHROP

PHOTO\ANDY PORTER

153

PHOTO\GARRETT GROVE

GLACIER PEAK

97-A CHELAN

THE ALPINE LAKES WILDERNESS OUTSIDE OF LEAVENWORTH IS A POPULAR HIKING DESTINATION FOR OBVIOUS REASONS. CHECK OUT THIS PRISTINE ALPINE LANDSCAPE FOR SPECTACULAR CLIMBING AND VIEWS ALONG THE ENCHANMENT LAKES.

STEVENS PASS

IN AUTUMN, THE ENCHANTMENT LAKES BASIN BECOMES A RIOT OF YELLOW AS ALPINE LARCHES SHOW THEIR FALL COLOR. TAKE THE SNOW LAKE TRAIL OFF OF ICICLE ROAD.

LEAVENWORTH

WENATCHEE PHOTO\ANDY PORTER

Sedro-Woolley/Concrete A 1940s-style bakery in Concrete serving espresso, old-fashioned sodas, handcrafted pies and artisan breads!

• Variety of morning baked goods including cinnamon rolls, french toast and waffles • Panini sandwiches, hearty salads, and soups made from scratch daily

Dedicated Gluten Free

Great Food For Every Body

Every food lover’s favorite destination!

360.853.8700

• Daily specials include lasagna, pot pies or baked macaroni & 5 cheese

45597 Main St. • Concrete

7-5 Daily

Last Full Service Grocery Store as you drive up North Cascades Hwy 20 E. • Full service grocery store • Fresh meats & produce • Fishing & camping supplies • Licenses for fishing & hunting

Albert’s

• Video Rentals • Western Union • Alcohol & Spirits • 24-hour ice

44546 State Route 20 Concrete, WA 98237

360-853-8540

CASCADE SUPPLY, INC. The “You Name It - We Got It” Store • Camping Supplies • Sporting Goods & Tackle • Hardware • Electrical • Plumbing • Lumber • Paint • Gifts

(360) 853-8811

45900 Main Street • Concrete

PIZZA that’s a “Destination” worth the drive! DINE-IN • TAKE-OUT • DELIVERY Pizza • Sandwiches • Subs & Grinders Pasta • Salads

853-7227

Tues-Sat 11am-9pm Sun 2pm-8pm Closed Mondays

Find us on

44568 State Route 20 • Concrete, WA FALL 2014 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

FALL GEAR GUIDE

BY PAT GRUBB

HELLY HANSEN STELLA STORM JACKET This highly breathable waterproof PrimaLoft-insulated ski jacket has two way stretch and the H2flow system to keep you comfortable on the mountain. Ski specific features include jacket-pant compatible powder, goggle pocket, and RECCO Advanced Rescue System. It’s waterproof, windproof and breathable. MSRP $375. www.hellyhansen.com

ION BINDINGS G3

LIB TECH SKATE BANANA Fun, easy to ride, high performance, the LibTech Skate Banana is an all terrain freestyle banana blend that kills powder, rails, hardpack and ice. Winner of over 30 Good Wood awards, it’s been ridden to Olympic gold medals, Air and Style championships, King of Hill, X Games Street gold, Supernatural victory and Ted Borland’s backwoods jibs. Available in narrow, regular, and wide widths. MSRP $529. www.lib-tech.com

HUMMINGBIRD SELF-INFLATING NECK PILLOW A self-inflating neck pillow for travel adventures. One-handed adjustment and a plush, removable cover adds comfort on long flights, bus rides, and more. Water-proof top roll closure. Compresses flat. MSRP $39.95 www.cascadedesigns.com

Awarded Editor’s Choice by Backcountry magazine, the ION is G-3’s lightweight freeride touring binding. Weighing in at 585 g/1 lb 4.6 oz apiece, the IOB can fit brakes sized 85, 95, 115, 130 mm with a DIN of 5-12. The brakes can be deployed while touring for a makeshift crampon use. Helpful toe guides make stepping into these tech bindings much easier. MRSP $529. www.genuineguidegear.com/gear/bindings

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2014

SALENA PRO GUIDE BOOT The American Alpine Institute awarded a Guides Choice Award to the Salewa Pro Guide boot this year for its excellent fit and the ability to change from a full rigid shank to a flexible 3/4 shank with a turn of an allen wrench. Gore-Tex lined and insulated, the Pro Guide can be both a high performance climbing boot, and a comfortable trail boot. AAI calls it an “excellent mountaineering and ice climbing boot.” Pro Guide Price: $524 Shop.AlpineInstitute.com MOUNTBAKEREXPERIENCE.COM

FALL GEAR GUIDE

ASANA BY SMITH OPTICS Asana offers a smaller, more feminine face fit while still providing a wide field of vision. Lightweight performance with three interchangeable lenses, two-position, adjustable nosepiece, slide-on temple ends, and an array of mirrored lens tints. Integrates with helmets for 100% unobstructed field of view. MSRP $159. www.smithoptics.com

BC LINK RADIO SYSTEM Strong group communication is the key to any successful and safe day in the backcountry. The BC Link radio system is designed specifically for backcountry travelers. It’s compatible with all standard FRS/GRMS radios and has a 3-mile range. The smart mic attaches to the outside of the pack while the base unit remains inside the pack. 140 hours of battery life. $149.95. backcountryaccess.com

E-CASE SERIES 9.5 CASES E-Case cases provide submersible, waterproof protection for your pricey personal electronic devices. Made in the USA, E-Case cases meet the IPX7 electronics-industry standard of withstanding submersion in one meter of water for 30 minutes. $34.95-$49.95 www.e-case.com

HUMMINGBIRD WIDEMOUTH CARRY-ON This carry-on sized travel bag features a wide opening for easy packing and a zippered external pocket for quick access items. Its rugged construction offers excellent environmental protection and easily handles the rigors of traveling in developing nations. D-rings lash it down to anything. $89.95. www.cascadedesigns.com

COLETTE BY SMITH OPTICS Smith has expanded its frame collection featuring ChromaPop lens technology, now available in almost 30 frame styles. Some new favorites include the unisex Clayton and the women’s specific Colette for more fashion conscious adventurers, the retro inspired Wayward, and the Dockside with a wider temple wrap to reduce side glare for on-water. MSRP $210. www.smithoptics.com

BE LOCAL, BUY LOCAL.

We encourage you to support your local retailers. These winter items can be found at American Alpine Institute, Backcountry Essentials, Comor Sports, Glacier Ski Shop, Hidden Wave Boardshop, LFS Marine & Outdoor, Mountain Equipment Co-op, Mt. Baker Snowboard Shop, Northshore Ski & Board, REI, Skiis & Biikes, Valhalla Pure Sports, West Coast Sports, WWS Boardshop, Yeager’s Sporting Goods and other quality retailers in Washington and British Columbia. FALL 2014 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

WHERE to STAY ANACORTES

BLAINE

SWINOMISH CASINO & LODGE

SEMIAHMOO RESORT

12885 Casino Drive 360/588-3600 swinomishcasinoandlodge.com 98 luxurious guest rooms capture breathtaking views and the natural beauty of the Anacortes region. Local artwork, sumptuous bedding, stylish furnishings, glass-enclosed showers and complimentary Wi-Fi will ensure that your stay will be comfortable!

9565 Semiahmoo Parkway 360/318-2000 semiahmoo.com Semiahmoo Resort is a premier seaside destination overlooking Semiahmoo Bay. Also home to Loomis Trail Golf Club and Semiahmoo Golf and Country Club. The resort has a full health club and spa, as well as restaurants serving farm-to-table cuisine.

BELLINGHAM

BURLINGTON

BEST WESTERN PLUS LAKEWAY INN

FAIRFIELD INN BY MARRIOTT

714 Lakeway Drive 360/671-1011 thelakewayinn.com Bellingham’s newly redecorated, full-service hotel with 132 spacious guest rooms and suites, two restaurants, lobby café, indoor pool and hot tub, fitness center, and 11,000 square feet of meeting space for weddings, banquets and corporate events.

9384 Old Highway 99, Exit 232 360/757-2717 marriott.com/otsfs Newly renovated. Free continental breakfast, including fresh-brewed coffee, waffles, pastries and fresh fruit. Indoor pool spa, exercise room and room service from Bob’s Burgers and Brew. Free wireless and wired internet throughout, including business center.

THE CHRYSALIS INN & SPA

GLACIER

804 10th Street 360/756-1005 thechrysalisinn.com Each guest room overlooks a spectacular Northwest seascape. Spacious rooms feature fireplace, down comforters, luxury amenities and a two-person bath elegantly set in natural slate. Three distinctive room types offer increasing levels of luxury.

BLUE T LODGE

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

queen-sized beds, a full bathroom and views of Church Mountain as well as access to a meeting space.

THE INN AT MOUNT BAKER

8174 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-1776 theinnatmtbaker.com The Inn at Mount Baker, located just west of Glacier, is an excellent choice for accommodations. A stay includes gourmet European-style breakfast, featherbeds and breathtaking views of Mt. Baker and the Nooksack Valley.

THE KNOTTY LODGE

360/303-2887 vrbo.com/563675 Beautiful rustic luxury mountain retreat located in the Glacier Springs community. Includes all amenities. Built in 2013, has three bedrooms, two baths and sleeps eight. Pets considered on a case-by-case basis. Book online or call.

MT. BAKER VIEW GUEST HOUSE

6920 Central Avenue 360/599-2155 mtbakerviewguesthouse.com The Guest House in downtown Glacier sleeps six; two bedrooms, hot tub, kitchen and games. Airstream Sally is also available for rent. Never raise rates for holidays and no cleaning fees.

MAPLE FALLS BAKER ACCOMMODATIONS

7425 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-2999 or 888/695-7533 bakeraccomodations.com Baker Accommodations offers cabins and condos in the resort developments of Snowater, Snowline and Mt. Baker Rim, conveniently located just east of Glacier.

MT. BAKER LODGING

7463 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-2453 or 800/709-7669 mtbakerlodging.com Mt. Baker Lodging offers cabins, condos, chalets and executive rental home accommodations. A number of selected units are pet friendly. Walk-in reservations and one-night stays available.

WINTHROP CHEWUCH INN

223 White Avenue 800/747-3107 chewuchinn.com Guest rooms for romantic getaways, seasonal travelers and outdoor enthusiasts. The relaxed atmosphere of a B&B with the privacy of a hotel. Centrally located for an abundance of outdoor adventures in the surrounding wilderness areas.

WHERE to EAT ACME/VAN ZANDT

BELLINGHAM

ACME DINER

BELLEWOOD ACRES

2045 Valley Highway (Hwy 9) 360/595-0150 acme-diner.com This ’50s-style diner’s friendly staff is ready to serve you great home-cooked food; fresh ground hamburgers, daily dinner specials, gluten-free meals, pizza, espresso, homemade desserts and Acme ice cream. Open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

6140 Guide Meridian, Lynden 360/318-7720 bellewoodfarms.com Visit the farm, country store, bistro and distillery for artisan food products and Northwest gifts. Fall begins with 20 varieties of apples, pears, fresh cider, pumpkins and more. Visit the website for a full list of family activities.

BLUE MOUNTAIN GRILL

BELLINGHAM BAR & GRILL

974 Valley Highway (Hwy 9) 360/595-2200 bluemountaingrill.com Fresh homemade fare, including baked bread and desserts made daily, steaks and burgers. Open for lunch and dinner everyday, and breakfast on weekends. Enjoy a beautiful view of the Twin Sisters.

1408 Cornwall Avenue 360/733-2579 bellinghambarandgrill.com Whatcom County’s oldest bar and grill, serving steaks, burgers, seafood and appetizers. Full bar. Happy hour 4–7 p.m. daily and all day Sunday. Sports entertainment, two shuffleboard tables and seven pool tables. Monday night karaoke.

ANACORTES

BOUNDARY BAY BREWERY AND BISTRO

13 MOONS AT SWINOMISH CASINO & LODGE

12885 Casino Drive 360/588-3600 swinomishcasinoandlodge.com 13 moons captures the warmth of a lodge atmosphere combined with the unsurpassed flavors of hand-cut Alder wood grilled seafood, meats and the freshest flavors of the Northwest.

1107 Railroad Avenue 360/647-5593 bbaybrewery.com In business since 1995, catering to locals and out-of-towners alike! Ten house brews on tap paired with a menu of fresh Northwest locally sourced pub food. Family-friendly establishment with daily live entertainment. “Save the ales!”

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2014

CHUCKANUT BREWERY & KITCHEN

601 W. Holly Street 360/752-3377 chuckanutbreweryandkitchen.com Enjoy world-class European-style awardwinning lagers and ales, and a local-centric menu of fresh American cuisine including woodstone pizzas, burgers, seafood, salads and more. All ages welcome every day starting at 11:30 a.m.

KEENAN’S AT THE PIER INSIDE THE CHRYSALIS INN & SPA

804 10th Street, Bellingham thechrysalisinn.com 360/392-5510 Featuring a seasonal menu, full bar and terrace bar open for happy hour every day, 3–6 p.m. Enjoy breakfast, lunch or dinner daily with a view from every table of Bellingham Bay and the San Juan Islands!

KULSHAN BREWING CO.

2238 James Street 360/389-5348 kulshanbrewery.com Enjoy great beer in a comfortable taproom with a view of the brewery. Bring in your own food or order from onsite food trucks at this neighborhood gem.

LORENZO’S MEXICAN RESTAURANT 190 E. Bakerview Road 360/527-3181

lorenzosmexicanrestaurant.com Arouse your taste buds to the best Mexican food around. Offering a variety of house specialties, combination plates and classic Mexican favorites that are sure to excite your family. Locations in Bellingham, Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley.

LOBBY CAFÉ

714 Lakeway Drive 360/671-1011 thelakewayinn.com Bellingham’s hidden gem and hottest new gathering place is located inside Best Western Plus Lakeway Inn. Home to Bellingham’s best breakfast for the crab benedict. Northwest specialties for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Expansive wine selection and water wall seating.

POPPES 360 NEIGHBORHOOD PUB

714 Lakeway Drive 360/671-1011 bellinghamrestaurant.com Voted home to Northwest’s Best Cocktail. Enjoy Northwest fare for lunch, dinner, appetizers and dessert. Happy Hour every day; 12 taps, specialty martinis, nightly entertainment. Year-round covered and heated patio with three fire pits.

WESTSIDE PIZZA

7260 Cordata Parkway, Suite 107 360/756-5055 Pizza made with only the best ingredients available, and dough made fresh every day. The perfect place to stop after a long, hungry day of adventuring.

MOUNTBAKEREXPERIENCE.COM

BLAINE PACKERS OYSTER BAR AT SEMIAHMOO RESORT

9565 Semiahmoo Parkway 360/318-2000 semiahmoo.com/packersoyster-bar Visit Packers for the ultimate in an indulgent dining experience. Your taste buds will be delighted by fresh farmto-table cuisine. From light brunches to expertly crafted dinners. Come in, relax and let the culinary journey begin.

PIERSIDE KITCHEN AT SEMIAHMOO RESORT

9565 Semiahmoo Parkway 360/318-2000 semiahmoo.com/piersidekitchen Pierside Kitchen at Semiahmoo Resort is casual, sophisticated and approachable. Serving breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner, featuring fresh, seasonally inspired cuisine. The menu emphasizes the local and regional bounty.

BURLINGTON SKAGIT’S OWN FISH MARKET

18042 Hwy 20, Burlington 360/707-2722 skagitfish.com Offering the highest quality in local seafood. Daily lunch

specials freshly prepared. Local jams, jellies, salsas, honey and sauces. Visit them on Facebook.

TRAIN WRECK BAR & GRILL

427 E. Fairhaven Avenue 360/755-0582 trainwreck.com A fun, casual and inviting place to get a beer, wine, cocktail or quick and delicious meal. Serving customers ages 21 and over locally sourced products with a smile and gourmet flair.

CONCRETE 5B’S BAKERY

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

ANNIE’S PIZZA STATION

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

DEMING IL CAFFE RIFUGIO RESTORANTE

5415 Mt. Baker Highway 360/592-2888 ilcafferifugio.com Gourmet full-service menu, serving wine, beer and espresso at reasonable prices. 8 a.m.– 8 p.m. Thursday – Sunday for breakfast, lunch and dinner. 15 minutes from Bellingham. New drive up bar. Live music and events.

THE NORTH FORK BREWERY AND BEER SHRINE

6186 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-2337 northforkbrewery.com Looking for marriage or a pint of fresh ale and hand-tossed pizza? Our Pizzeria, Brewery, Wedding Chapel and Beer Museum is your place! Open to all. Monday-Friday: Dinner, Saturday–Sunday: Lunch and dinner.

EVERSON HERB NIEMANN’S STEAK HOUSE RESTAURANT

203 W. Main Street 360/966-2855 eversonsteakhouse.com Nestled in the middle of Everson, serving a mouthwatering array of steaks, Bavarian specialties, seafood and desserts to customers

since 1993. Offers atmospheres for adults and families alike, including parties up to 50.

GLACIER CHAIR 9 WOODSTONE PIZZA AND BAR

10459 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-2511 chair9.com The perfect place to enjoy a great family meal or a brew after a day on the mountain. Bands play weekends, and the space offers plenty of dancing room. Try the “Canuck’s Deluxe” pizza, a staff favorite. Open for lunch and dinner.

GRAHAM’S RESTAURANT

9989 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-3663 Grab a stool at the legendary bar and enjoy rotating selections of fine craft beers, ciders and wine. Serving fresh rustic pub fare with fantastic daily specials!

MILANO’S RESTAURANT

9990 Mt. Baker Highway 360/599-2863 milanosglacier.com Open 12-9 p.m., seven days a week. Offering fresh pasta dishes with local seafood and produce, plus a diverse selection of desserts and deli sandwiches. Milano’s is a Northwest staple in its 24th year of operation. Eat on the

deck or in the air-conditioned dining room.

WAKE-N-BAKERY

6903 Bourne Street 360/599-1658 getsconed.com Open daily 7:30 a.m. to 5-ish p.m. Serving breakfast burritos, quiche, soup, lunch wraps and freshly baked goods. Savory and sweet gluten-free options. Organic espresso and coffee. Indoor and outdoor seating. Dine in or take out.

Lummi Island Artists'

Studio Tour 2014

Paintings, drawings, prints, pottery, jewelry, photography, sculpture, woodwork, leatherwork, notecards, glass, metalwork, stonework, quilts, clothing, knitwear, and more!

Aug. 30 & 31 • 10am to 6pm Nov. 8 & 9 • 10am to 5pm

Balloon marks each location!

I-5, exit 260, west on Slater, left on Haxton to ferry dock, 8 min ferry ride leaves at ten past every hour. $13/car & driver, $7/person, $7/bicycle & rider (round trip). Accompanied children under 12 free!

360-758-7121 • 360-758-2815

visit lummi-island.com or find us on Facebook

Experience Lummi Gateway Center!

Entertainment & Events Storytelling Education Music Art

IFT SHOP • SE G • T R AFOOD A • BEADS • DELI

“Tribal Images” Native American Arts & Crafts Wood Carvers • Orca Beads & Gifts Sche’langen Seafood Market Entertainment & Seafood Buffets Deli - Lunch daily

Lummi Gateway Center

For Daily Specials & Activities!

4920 Rural Avenue • Ferndale

360-306-8554 360-933-4211

One minute off

I-5 EXIT 260

FALL 2014 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

A Rope in the

DARKNESS Adventures with

NORTH SHORE RESCUE

PHOTO\ COURTESY OF NORTH SHORE RESCUE

BY JANE SEYD

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2014

MOUNTBAKEREXPERIENCE.COM

PHOTO\COURTESY OF NORTH SHORE RESCUE

t was about a week before Christmas 2012 and snowing heavily in the North Shore mountains when snowboarder Sebastian Boucher went missing in Cypress Provincial Park. Members of the volunteer North Shore Rescue team based in North Vancouver had already spent two days looking for Boucher without success. The 33-year-old had last been seen ducking under a boundary rope and heading into rugged terrain west of the ski resort. There was deep snow and a high risk of avalanche. “It was terrible, terrible conditions,” said John Blown, a search team member for over a decade. “You were literally swimming in neck-deep snow.” On the third day, there was a brief break in the weather – long enough to send a helicopter over the mountain. From the air, they spotted fresh tracks on the side of Black Mountain. Tim Jones, the team leader at the time and a legendary figure in rescue circles, was in a downtown Vancouver hospital with his daughter, Taylor, who was there for surgery. When his pager went off, Jones ran to the nearest police station, stopped a squad car and asked to be driven to the airport, where the helicopter picked him up. There was no time to spare. The helicopter dropped a four-man team including Jones, Blown, Mike Danks and Jeff Yarnold on the mountain with a sling-load of gear. But moving the gear in those conditions was like “pulling a sea anchor,” said Yarnold. “We ended up leaving it there.” They followed the tracks down into a gulley towards Disbrow Creek. When people are lost in the North Shore Mountains, they almost always head down – it’s easier, and they think they’ll reach safety that way, heading toward the city and the ocean. What they find instead are dangerous waterfalls and dropoffs that end in icy creeks. Heading down is always a bad idea. As darkness fell and the searchers got closer, they could hear Boucher yelling in the dark at the base of a waterfall. There was no choice but to follow him down. “When you throw a rope off into the darkness, you hope you can find another rappel

station when you get to the end of your rope,” said Blown. Yarnold, the first rescuer in, was shocked when he suddenly found himself face to face with Boucher, who was still upright and walking. Yarnold said, “I can’t believe you’re alive. He said, ‘Me neither.’” High-risk rescues like this are all in a day’s – or most often a night’s – work for members of North Shore Rescue, probably B.C’s bestknown mountain search and rescue team. While volunteer search teams exist all over the province and neighboring Washington, the mountainous North Shore backcountry that pushes up close to metropolitan Vancouver has been a reason for many rescues over the almost 50 years the team has been in operation. There are about 40 team members, who get called out to approximately 100 rescues every year. About 40 percent of those calls are in winter, and those are the ones that can quickly turn deadly. Danks, the 38-year-old leader of North Shore Rescue, has been part of the team for 19 years. His dad Allan was a team member and leader when Danks was growing up. “I’d wake up in the morning and my dad wouldn’t be there. My mom always said, ‘He’s gone to help someone.’ We always understood that.” What keeps him going is the knowledge that he’s making a difference, said Danks. “I’ve been on lots of calls when people have given up. They’ve lain down to die.” Danks remembers one time the team went to find a British scientist who hadn’t even been reported missing. He had been on North Vancouver’s Mt. Fromme for three or four days when his roommate casually mentioned to someone that he hadn’t come home. When Jones heard about it, he immediately mounted a search. They found the man on the mountain, crumpled in a ball. “He thought he was going to die there,” Danks said. Team members have rescued everyone from children to senior citizens. These days, the media profile of the North Shore mountains means a wider group of people is heading into the wild. Many take on challenges beyond their abilities and don’t take basic equipment. Yarnold said he’s seen people

using an avalanche transceiver app on their phone rather than carrying a proper transceiver. “It doesn’t work,” he said. “It only gets you to within 30 meters.” Blown acknowledged young men are still the mostly likely subjects of searches. “They’re less risk-averse than the rest of society,” he said. He’s been asked more than a few times, “How can you go out and rescue these idiots time after time?” But everybody makes mistakes, he said. “No one deserves to die for a stupid mistake.” The team has maintained a staunch policy against asking people to pay for their rescues, despite occasional public debates. Blown said there’s no evidence that the risk of a fine acts as a deterrent against stupid behavior. But it can make people reluctant to call, further endangering both those who are lost and the team that must go and find them. It’s also not the Canadian way. “We don’t believe we should just leave people on their own,” said Yarnold. Team members often stay in touch with the people they rescue, like Chris Morley, who in 2007 found himself lying on a slope near Theta Lake, with broken bones and hypothermia setting in after falling 200 meters. When a team from North Shore Rescue reached Morley, he was soaking wet. “There’s no way he would have survived the night,” Yarnold said. The men dug snow caves and spent two nights huddled together listening to avalanches crashing down on slopes around them. When a break in the weather came, the helicopter hovered just long enough for rescuers to literally throw Morley inside before it took off again. “It was such a relief getting Chris out,” said Yarnold. “He’s definitely stayed in touch.” Like many team members, Blown grew up hiking and rock climbing on the North Shore. “I grew up hiking the Grouse Grind before the Grind was called the Grind,” he said. “For as long as I could remember I always wanted to be a member of North Shore Rescue.” Team members range in age from their 20s to 70s. There are a lot of “A-type personalities,” said Danks, but members understand

they have to work as a team. “You need to have confidence in yourself and you need to be able to trust other people with your life,” said Danks. While there’s plenty of excitement, there are also plenty of personal sacrifices that come with being on the team. Partners and kids are often ditched at a moment’s notice when the pager goes off. “It’s usually when you’re sitting down to a nice birthday dinner or when you’re trying to put the kids to bed,” said Danks, who has three young daughters, ages 2, 6 and 7. “It puts a ton of pressure on the other spouse.” Team members say they are still adapting to being without Jones, the larger-than-life team leader and spokesman who died suddenly at 57 of a heart attack on Mount Seymour in January. “He was a force of nature,” said Blown. “He was always motivating people to push their limits.” When a rescue call came in, Jones was known for deciding what had to be done first and getting permission later. “If he followed the rulebook, there would be a lot of people who wouldn’t be here today,” said Yarnold. Jones also worked tirelessly to raise the public profile of the team, which relies heavily on public donations for its operation. Although the provincial government pays for helicopter time during actual rescues, money for training and equipment – including maintenance of the team’s series of remote mountain repeater stations and emergency caches – all has to be raised. For instance, each helicopter rescue kit costs $40,000. A recent lightning strike on a repeater station on Mt. Cathedral caused $30,000 in damage. Before he died, Jones had an aim of raising $6 million for a legacy fund that would generate enough interest to pay for operations each year. That’s still a goal of the team. The team receives grants to cover part of its approximately $500,000 CDN annual budget, but the largest chunk – about $250,000 CDN – comes from public donations. “That’s just coming out of the goodness of people’s hearts.” For more information on North Shore Rescue, or to donate to the team go to northshorerescue.com.

FALL 2014 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

Between a ROCK and a HARD PLACE

pic adventures often seem a bit mythical, particularly in the telling. Still, what could be more epic than cruising by (or through) a timeless ocean-going nightmare? Homer’s Odyssey describes the gutchurning dread of the sea-monsters Scylla and Charybdis. Legend has it these two monsters were the proverbial rock and a hard place, with six-headed Scylla scarfing down unwary sailors, while a bowshot away Scylla sucked entire ships down to their destruction. Then there is the epic Scandinavian saga of the Kraken – a huge, multiarmed sea monster that would wrap its tentacles around ships (and kayaks) and drag them down to the depths! Consider that these “monsters” were not only primal and terrifying, but also based on real phenomena. The Scylla and Charybdis actually did regularly “eat” ships and mariners, but in the form of a jutting rocky reef and the resulting tidal races and whirlpools now clearly marked on Sicilian charts as the “Garofalo.” The Kraken still swallows the occasional kayaker, but is better known now as the “Moskstraumen;” inspiration for the modern usage of the word maelstrom, where tidal currents surge and spin through the rocky inlets off Norway. Rare as they are, two of these epic, sea-monster-inspiring adventures exist in our own backyard. As a sea kayaker I personally revel in my own hard-won mediocrity, but even I can’t avoid a touch of hubris when announcing

that I’m off to Deception Pass to play in the waves. Just south of Anacortes, Washington, Deception Pass is the narrow strait of water that separates Whidbey Island from Fidalgo Island. Large tides cause almost 900 million gallons of seawater to back up on one side of the pass before surging through the narrow opening. Ben Ure Island in the center splits the flow, with most of the tide’s energy routed through the main southern channel, and the remainder flowing through Canoe Pass. During particularly large ebb and flood tides the current may run as high as 8 knots (9.2 miles per hour) with attendant standing

PHOTO\ERIK SCHORR

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2014

waves, whirlpools and boils. Thousands of visitors view the spectacle each year from the 180-foot-high bridge overlooking the pass, but it is a much more up close and personal experience from the cockpit of a kayak. My own tidal kayak “odyssey” kicked off with a carefully timed trip east through Deception Pass during the quiet 20-minute interlude at slack tide when the currents shift. By the time my companions and I cruised back west through Canoe Pass, the current was already starting to build. Clad in dry suits and helmets, we snaked up through bull kelp along the north side of the pass, then peeled out gleefully to shoot

PHOTO\SUE MADSEN

BY SUE MADSEN

down the center, dodging whirlpools and bracing to stay upright. As the current built, we ventured out from the calm eddy behind the island to try surfing the standing waves. Now and then someone would capsize and blow the roll, tumbling upside down while being rapidly swept past Lottie Bay. Hours of rescue practice paid off though, as one of two companions would immediately break away to help the paddler right their boat and clamber back in. Paddling Deception Pass is not for beginners. However, if you have the necessary safety gear, stay within your limits and are comfortable navigating currents and waves, it can be a great way to build skills and confidence. It’s always best to start out with those who know the area well. Local kayak clubs like WAKE (Whatcom Association of Kayak Enthusiasts) or Hole-in the-Wall out of Anacortes occasionally offer classes or outings. Anacortes Kayak Tours also offers guided trips in the general area. Further to the north, Skookumchuck (Sechelt Rapids) is an altogether bigger beast. A true tidal race, Skookumchuck is the world’s largest tidal marine rapids, funneling around 200 billion gallons of water a day into and out of the Sechelt inlet on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast. That’s over 220 times bigger than the massive Deception Pass flows. Skookumchuck Narrows is located in a provincial park about a two-hour drive and ferry ride north of Vancouver. A grand des-

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PHOTO\SUE MADSEN PHOTO\ERIK SCHORR

tination for any traveler, these waters should be plied only by the most experienced (and slightly crazy) paddlers. Naturally, a beast of this proportion deserves a look, even for those having no plan to jump in and ride it. We arrived in Egmont just at slack tide. A strange line of turbulence stretched across the channel, and it wasn’t until after idly watching it creep southeast for about 10 minutes that I realized I was watching a tidal bore, the leading edge of the incoming waves that signaled the turn in the tide. After dropping our gear at the nearby Backeddy Resort, we set off on the 3.5-mile (5.6 km) trek down to the narrows. The rapids announce their presence with a dull roar, and you can hear them long before you see them. A quick stop at the first overlook revealed a newly installed bench. It was sobering to note that it was built to honor two RCMP swift-water rescue team members who drowned while practicing rescue techniques in the rapids a year before. This is not a place for amateurs. That first overlook is the perfect place to watch gigantic whirlpools on an ebb tide. However, we were there to watch the boaters, so we traveled on another half a mile or so. At that point a rock rib juts out into the channel, forcing the incoming tide up into a series of gigantic standing waves. This is where the fun begins. We plunked down on the rocks in the summer sun, and watched in awe as a group of experts surfed the chaos. The main wave action takes place within about 100 feet of the rock. These guys and gals were good, but once in awhile they slipped up and went on tour through the implode zone, riding the churning wave train a half mile or more. As the day wore on the foam pile built and the action got wilder. It was a truly epic after-

noon, but watching was plenty of excitement for me. Although I’d brought my boat along, not once did I wish I had ventured out into the water. We visited Skookumchuck on one of the fastest current days of the season, with a predicted maximum current of over 17 knots (19.5 mph / 31.4 kmh). These extreme high tides attract play boaters – whitewater kayakers who surf, spin and perform various acrobatic moves on standing waves. Sea kayakers at Skookumchuck target a more moderate 9- to 10-knot current range. These flows are still beyond the performance range of most standard sea kayaks, and many of the boats are modified with grab lines fore and aft of the cockpit, which provide an element of safety in extreme conditions, or center pillars that keep the hull from being crushed in large waves. If you are interested in taking your kayak skills to the next level, venture north on a scouting trip to Skookumchuck. Learn to roll by taking a class from a local club or one of the kayaking schools listed below. Learn to deal with big waves by kayak surfing at Hobuck Beach near Neah Bay on the Olympic Peninsula. Find your own rock and hard place to challenge yourself.

RESOURCES WAKE (Whatcom Association of Kayak Enthusiasts) • wakekayak.org Hole in the Wall Paddling Club holeinthewallpaddlingclub.org Anacortes Kayak Tours anacorteskayaktours.com Backeddy Resort • backeddy.ca

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EVENTS

Find more events and submit your own at mountbakerexperience.com SEPTEMBER SKAGIT RIVER SALMON FESTIVAL: September 6, Ana-

cortes. Live music, fly fishing, BBQ, beer and wine garden and more to celebrate salmon at

Swinomish Casino and Lodge. More info: swinomishcasinoandlodge.com

Northwest. More info: recreationnorthwest.org

ALASKA AIRLINES IRON HORSE TRAVERSE: Septem-

September 6-7, Everett. Trade show celebrating the cannabis culture and featuring The Wailers. More info: cannabiscup.com

ber 6, North Bend. A multisport race put on by Recreation

HIGH TIMES CANNABIS CUP:

LAKE SAMISH SALMON ROE: September 13, Lake Samish. Rowing race hosted by Sound Rowers and Paddlers. More info: soundrowers.com/salmonroe

FAIRHAVEN RUNNERS WATERFRONT 15K: Septem-

ber 13, Bellingham. This running race winds along Bellingham Bay featuring aid stations, awards, entertainment, chip timing and tech shirts. More info: cob.org/services/recreation/races

UNCORKED WOOLLEY WINE AND MUSIC FESTIVAL: Sep-

tember 13, Sedro-Woolley. Celebrate fall harvest season with the wine and music of Sedro-Woolley and Skagit Valley. More info: sedro-woolley.com

WHATCOM COUNTY FARM TOUR: September 13, Whatcom

County. Check out nine farms, one winery and two farmers markets. More info: sustainableconnections.org/foodfarming

CHUCKANUT

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CENTURY:

September 14, Bellingham. Fully supported bicycle ride through Whatcom and Skagit counties, with festivities at Boundary Bay Brewery. More info: chuckanutcentury.org

FRASER VALLEY CORK AND KEG: September 19, Langley. Trade show and festival for wines and beers in the Lower Mainland. More info: corkandkeg.ca

VITAL CHOICE BELLINGHAM TRAVERSE: September 20, Bell-

ingham. A multi-sport race put on by Recreation Northwest. More info: recreationnorthwest.org

5POINT FILM FESTIVAL: Sep-

tember 20, Bellingham. Catch the most acclaimed outdoor adventure films of the year in one show at Depot Market Square. More info: 5pointfilm.org Mount Baker Experience presents Days of My Youth on Friday, November 7 at Aslan Brewing Company, Bellingham. Must be 21 or over. Ticket info: mountbakerexperience.com Net proceeds beneﬁt Northwest Avalanche Center and Snohomish County Helicopter Rescue Team. Lots of great prizes from Helly Hansen, BCA, American Alpine Institute, LibTech, E-Case, Platypus & more!

MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE | FALL 2014

TOUR DE WHIDBEY: Septem-

ber 20, Whidbey Island. Whidbey is the second largest island in the lower 48, and certainly one of the most beautiful. See it by bike on this fun group ride. More info: tourdewhidbey.com

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FESTIVAL:

September 2021, Coupeville. Annual kite festival at Camp Casey. More info: whidbeykites.org

SAN JUAN ISLAND QUEST ADVENTURE RACE: September

27, Orcas Island. Chart your own course through this multisport adventure race. More info: recreationnorthwest.org

HARVEST FESTIVAL AND PUMPKIN PITCH: September

27, Burlington. Accuracy and distance pumpkin pitch competitions, and many other harvest festivities. More info: burlington-chamber.com

OCTOBER CYCLOCROSS AT BELLINGHAM BMX: October 4, Bellingham. Grand opening of the 2014 Cascade Cross cyclocross series. More info: cascadecross.com/ races

NOOKSACK RIVER SLALOM:

October 4-5, Glacier. The NW Whitewater slalom cup race is a classic stop on the northwest slalom series. More info: allaboutrivers.com/calendar

JEREMY JONES’ HIGHER: Oc-

tober 4, Bellingham. The final chapter of Jones’ epic snowboard series produced by Teton Gravity Research. Mt. Baker Theatre. More info: tetongravity.com/tours

ALMOST ABLAZE: October 15,

Bellingham. A ski and snowboard film from Teton Gravity Research. Mt. Baker Theatre. More info: tetongravity.com/tours

WASHINGTON STATE TRAILS CONFERENCE: October 16-18,

Bellingham. Biennial trails conference with keynote speakers and field sessions hosted by Whatcom Parks and Recreation Foundation and Washington State Trails Coalition. More info: washingtonstatetrailscoalition.org

LAKE PADDEN TRAIL HALF MARATHON: October 17, Bell-

ingham. This 13.1 mile trail run on the beautiful trails around Lake Padden is the USATF National Championship and benefits Rebound of Whatcom County. More info: lakepadden-

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VANCOUVER SNOW SHOW: October

17-19, Vancouver. A huge gear swap and trade show with extreme winter deals. More info: greatervancouverhotels.com/ events/snowshow

Recreation Northwest aims for sustainable recreation

MT. BAKER FILM FEST: October 23,

Bellingham. Catch the best winter sports clips from local and international filmmakers. More info: mountbakertheatre.com/events

BY IAN FERGUSON

PHOTO\DYLAN HALLETT

WOOLLEY CROSS: October 25, Se-

dro-Woolley. A classic cyclocross race on a classic course put on by Cascade Cross. More info: cascadecross.com/races

NOVEMBER CROSS BORDER CLASH CYCLOCROSS:

November 1, Bellingham. Cyclocrass racers from Washington and B.C. go head to head in two days of racing and festivities. More info: cascadecross.com/races

DAYS OF MY YOUTH FILM PREMIER:

November 7, Bellingham. Mount Baker Experience presents Days Of My Youth, a collaboration between Matchstick Productions and Red Bull Media House. This epic ski film was two years in the making. Watch it on the big screen at Aslan Brewing Co. More info: mountbakerexperience.com/events

LUMMI ISLAND ARTISTS’ STUDIO TOUR: November 8-9, Lummi Island.

Paintings, sculpture, photography and many other art forms on display. More info: lummi-island.com

WARREN MILLER’S NO TURNING BACK: November 14, Mt. Baker Theatre. Bellingham. Celebrate 65 years of documenting ski culture with the latest film from Warren Miller. More info: skinet. com

ost people know Recreation Northwest for the fun races they organize – the Bellingham Traverse and the Northwest Traverse series, the San Juan Island Quest and many others. Considering how those races all make use of beautiful natural environments, it might not be surprising to learn that the non-profit organization based in Bellingham is increasingly focused on conservation issues. Recreation Northwest recently became the park stewards of the Chuckanut Community Forest in Fairhaven, and they are working on a campaign to make the trail system through the park more sustainable. Although it has been used informally as a park for a long time, the forest was added to the Bellingham park system in 2013. Wear and tear from copious informal use over the years has caused some wear and tear. For example, the trail used to enter the park from Fairhaven Park goes directly through a wetlands area, creating a giant mud pit whenever it rains. “The park is getting loved to death by its users,” Recreation Northwest director Todd Elsworth said. “Our first project is to move that entrance trail to a lower-impact area and restore the wetlands. Phase two is to improve access into the forest by building an elevated boardwalk.” After that? “We want to work with Bellingham parks

and recreation and the Fairhaven community to develop a master plan for a park that is a great balance between conservation and recreation,” Elsworth said. Elsworth said his organization will seek to facilitate conversations and mediate between different groups to find common goals and move those goals forward. Satisfying the various user groups that enjoy the park will be a big challenge. “I’m really excited about this park as a place where beginner and even intermediate mountain bikers can go,” Elsworth said. “Hikers and walkers might take issue with

mountain bike trails, so it’s a hard conversation but the best things often come out of hard conversations.” Recreation Northwest’s newfound role as a park steward fits in neatly with their vision of recreation in the northwest. If it’s done right, the Chuckanut Community Forest could become a model for sustainable recreation. That’s the ultimate goal, Elsworth said. “Our super long term goal is to use this park as a model for sustainable trail networks. If we can conserve wild public lands while increasing access, it will boost our recreation economy.”

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ADVENTURES IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST

Teton Gravity Research’s World Tour hits Bellingham’s Mt. Baker Theatre this fall! For tickets and more information, visit Tetongravity.com/tours FALL 2014 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

FISHING the Skagit

BY IAN FERGUSON PHOTO BY ED MEGILL

hen the raft left the shore, stress left my mind. Ed Megill, a capable Northwest fishing guide, manned the oars. With a two-handed Spey rod in the boat, clear blue skies and no deadlines overhead, we set out to float the scenic Skagit River in search of bull trout and whatever else might bite. I had never gone fly fishing before. The last time I caught a fish was as a young boy with a worm and bobber in a stocked pond. Maybe it was good memories of fishing with my dad, or maybe it was Hemingway’s Big Two-Hearted River, a short story from one of my favorite books; I always felt I was missing out on something good. Ed had taught me how to cast two days before. We stood calf deep on an inside bend of the Nooksack River, going over the art of Spey casting. He taught me a hybrid between Spey casting, a traditional two-handed cast first developed in 1800s on the Spey River in Scotland, and Skagit casting, a more simplified version developed right here in Washington. In terms of fly casting, the method Ed taught me is beginner’s stuff, but it seemed pretty intricate to me. Raise the 12-foot pole like a rifle aiming down river, draw an arc in front of you with the tip to set the line on the water, peel it off at a 30-degree angle until your hand is answering a phone with someone yelling on the other end, then flick it forward from one o’clock to 11 o’clock. If you’ve done it right, at about the tempo of a waltz, the line will roll out smoothly and the leader will land neatly on the water, right where you aimed it. If you did it wrong, you’ll know.

The secret, Ed said, is to relax. “You want to be completely chilled out. Heart rate of about 60-70 beats per minute,” he said. When Ed took the rod, he looked me right in the eye, continued to to converse and yet laid down expert casts continuously without even trying. The rod and line were constantly in motion, and Ed was in complete control. His motions reminded me of a tai-chi master. At my best, after an hour of practice, I made one solid cast out of every 10. Luckily, Ed told me, the rivers of the Pacific Northwest are forgiving. With so much glacial sediment in the water, the visibility is no more than a few feet, so you won’t likely scare away fish with a terrible cast. Just set it up and try again. I was trying to remember everything I’d learned two days before when Ed pulled the raft up to a gravel shore next to some shallow rapids, a half-mile down from where we had put in on the Skagit. He explained that the section had good structure – lots of rocks for fish to hide behind – without being too fast. “We’re looking for walking pace water when we’re fishing for bull trout, steelhead and rainbows,” Ed said. “Sometimes a little faster, sometimes a little slower, but that’s kind of a general rule. When we start fishing for salmon, we’re looking for what I call the old man shuffle – a little slower than walking pace.” He showed me how to work the run, taking a couple steps downriver after every cast, and how to correct the line to make the most

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of each cast. Working the run, I repeated the motions of casting and fishing rhythmically, knee deep in glacial river water. I was focused on calmly executing each cast, relaxing while the fly drifted downriver, watching the rod tip intently and listening to the river rushing over the rocks, casting again and again. Cast. Two steps. Chill. Repeat. The process was meditative. The less I thought about it, the better my casts became. I got lost in the rhythm. Time didn’t exist and before I knew it I was at the end of the run. I walked back to the beach and Ed gave me some pointers. We drank some water and munched some crackers, enjoying the sunshine and the view; just a mighty greygreen river, trees and distant mountains. After awhile, Ed suggested I work the run again. I started up at the head of the beach near where the water was fastest. I fell quickly back into the relaxed rhythm, calm and steady with my casts. Suddenly, as I was pulling the line back in, I felt a tug. I jerked the pole up and it bowed, resisting. “Got something? Strip!” Ed said. I stripped line, surprised at the resistance, and the pole bowed even more. My heartbeat raced. I held the line for a few seconds, and nothing happened. I had snagged the bottom. “It happens,” Ed said, smiling. He helped me unsnag the fly and I went back to fishing. A few casts later, I caught a fish. The difference between a rock and a live fish, when hooked, is immediately apparent. The tip of the fly rod danced. I jerked the pole up and set the butt against my hip, stripping (or pulling by hand) the line to keep tension on the rod. When the fish moved my way, I stripped more. When it pulled, it pulled hard. “Walk it back to the beach,” Ed said. Soon the fish was right in front of me. Ed told me to get my hand wet before grabbing the fish. I dipped my hand and grabbed the line, pulling the fish out of the water. It was flopping mightily, and we had pinched the barb on the hook because we weren’t planning on keeping any of the fish we caught. As I went to reach for it, the fish flopped itself off the hook, and in a flash it was gone. “That was a beauty! A bull trout, probably 16 inches,” Ed said. “Nice job!” I was beaming as I gave Ed a high five. It was the first fish I had caught in about 15 years, and it didn’t matter that it got away before I could hold it. I was proud of it. We moved down the river, fishing sever-

al more runs through the rest of the day. At times I rushed my casts or forgot my technique, and Ed patiently coached me from the shore. I caught another bull trout farther down the river on a waist-deep travel lane, where the water was slow in a narrow channel beside an island. The second trout was about the same size as the first, and it too flopped off the hook as soon as I pulled it out of the water. Ed told me he had forgotten to bring a hand net, which would have made landing the fish a little easier. That was fine; since we were releasing the fish anyway it was enough just to play the fish, bring it in and see it for a moment. A walking field guide to fish, Ed taught me more about fish that day than I could ever hope to remember. He told me all about the many runs in the Northwest – all five species of salmon, summer and winter run steelhead, rainbow, cutthroat, bull trout and more. He knows the lifecycle and habits of all these fish, because he’s been guiding in the Pacific Northwest for years. His knowledge made him a natural choice to be the Native Fish Society’s river steward for the Skagit River. Fishing the Skagit was such a good time I’ve begun shopping around for a fly-fishing outfit. My options are certainly not limited. “How deep down the rabbit hole do you want to go?” Ed said. “That’s one of the things that’s so cool about fly fishing. If you’re into lakes, we’ve got plenty of lakes. If you like the smell of saltwater, man, saltwater is so much fun to fish, and if you’re into moving water, we’ve got thousands of river miles to go explore here in the Northwest. Then you’ve got smaller streams and tributaries. A lot of times, you won’t see a single soul out there. “To me, that’s the most attractive thing about fly fishing. It’s a reason to go out there and explore, and to go enjoy the ecosystem right in our backyard.”

RESOURCES The WDFW website is a great place to start: wdfw.wa.gov/fishing In B.C.? Check out fishing.gov.bc.ca Want to go on a guided trip? I can’t recommend anyone more highly than Cascades Flyfishing Expeditions on the Skagit, Sauk, Nooksack, Queets, Grande Ronde and Yakima rivers, and the beaches of Washington. Find them at cascadesfly.com.

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FALL 2014 | MOUNT BAKER EXPERIENCE

SCOTT JOHNSTON

PHOTO\STEVE HOUSE

PHOTO\E.A. WEYMULLER

STEVE HOUSE

a Q&A with STEVE HOUSE AND

SCOTT JOHNSTON AUTHORS OF “Training for the New Alpinism”

limbing big mountains requires a unique blend of physical attributes: the endurance of a marathon runner, the strength of a weightlifter and the precision and balance of a gymnast. While much has been studied and written about how to train for those more conventional sports, there hasn’t really been a training manual specific to the sport of alpinism – until now. Professional climber Steve House, a native northwesterner, wasn’t able to maximize his potential as an athlete until he teamed up with Mazama resident Scott Johnston. Johnston is a lifelong athlete, climber and coach who has competed and coached at the highest levels. A mechanical engineer by training, Johnston applied his engineering mind to developing a training method for mountain climbers. House is both the co-author of the method and proof that it works. His climbing prowess improved when he dialed in his training regimen, and his impressive accomplishments in the mountains would not have been possible without a focused approach to training. Training for the New Alpinism does not provide a step-by-step, one-size-fits-all exercise routine for becoming a mountain-conquering hero. Instead, it provides the latest

and most relevant exercise and nutrition science – backed by extensive testing and supported with anecdotes from the world’s best alpinists – to provide the aspiring climber with everything he or she needs to map out an effective training program. Editor’s note: The following Q&A with authors Steve House and Scott Johnston was provided by PR By the Book.

What was the motivation behind Training for the New Alpinism? SCOTT: Steve and I had been kicking

around the idea of putting our experiences with his training down in writing for a few years. We knew that nothing like this book existed in any language and we had gained knowledge that was unique in the climbing world. What really kicked us into action was that during Steve’s 2009 Beyond the Mountain book tour he was repeatedly asked what he did for training. His stock response became, “I could tell you, but it would take a whole book to explain it.”

How is a specific training program beneficial for alpine climbing? STEVE and SCOTT: Alpine climbing is

highly dependent on aerobic fitness. In our book we outline a training program that is

based on general fitness moving to more climbing-specific fitness. Most climbers only train specifically by going climbing. Properly timed and executed specific training placed upon a large base of more general training will ultimately lead to the highest level of fitness.

What is the best way to balance strength and endurance for climbing? SCOTT: That would depend on the type of

climbing you’re training for and your personal training history. If you are very weak you will need more strength training. If you can do a one-armed pull up but get out of breath climbing the stairs then you will need to focus on aerobic endurance training. Strength is the foundation for endurance more than endurance is the foundation for strength. So we place an emphasis on strength training in conjunction with basic aerobic conditioning as the two cornerstones of our program.

How important is nutrition to training? SCOTT: Nutrition is one of the key de-

terminants of health. Without good health, no training program can be successful. Nutrition also plays a huge role in recovering from hard physical work. We devoted an

entire chapter in the book to the nutritional needs of alpinists.

What do you eat when training? STEVE: A balanced selection of carbohydrates, fats and proteins.

What changes have you noticed in the alpine climbing world? STEVE: When I started climbing new

routes in Alaska in 1995 we were at the beginnings of tactical changes that massively reduced the time it took to climb big routes. For example, in 2001 Rolando Garibotti and I climbed a route called the Infinite Spur to Mt. Foraker’s summit in 25 hours (plus another 20 hours to descend to base camp). The previous fastest time was seven days. The difference was that we went really light. We didn’t bring a tent or sleeping bags, etc. We climbed until we needed a break, then stopped for 2-4 hours, hydrated, napped and then continued. This made a lot of sense in the land of the midnight sun; but now this method has spread to big climbs throughout the world. This evolution was tactical, not physical. We were fit from climbing, but not fit compared to a world-class athlete in another sport such as running.

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Future gains in speed and safety will come from applying directed training to ultra-long physical efforts. This will allow fitter climbers to climb quickly, efficiently, and as safely as possible. Ultra-runners and ski-mountaineering racers are starting to get into climbing. When truly well trained individuals – athletes who have been following intelligent training program for 10 years or more (as is common in running or cross-country skiing) – start climbing, we will see unbelievable accomplishments in the mountains.

What has been your toughest climb? STEVE: I’d say it was the Rupal Face on Nanga

Parbat. The climb to the ninth-highest summit on earth took eight days and we were operating on a minimum of food and sleep. Most other hard climbs we were able to go very light, and complete the climbs very quickly; you suffer much less on those climbs since the pack is lighter and you’re done in 36-48 hours. Eight days leaves a bigger mark on one’s psyche.

What were some of your favorite climbs? STEVE: I think of my climbing in terms of areas: Alaska, Canadian Rockies and the Himalaya. Each has its own highlight. In Alaska it would have been climbing the Slovak Direct in 2000 with Mark Twight and Scott Backes. In the Canadian Rockies it would be climbing the north face of North Twin in winter with Marko Prezelj. And in the Himalaya it would certainly be climbing a new route on the Rupal Face of Nanga Parbat with Vince Anderson in 2005.

What do you do when not climbing? STEVE: I run a guide service, Skyward Moun-

taineering. I write books. I ski tour in my home mountains, the San Juans. And of course I train and go climbing.

What are some of your upcoming climbs? STEVE: This year I’ll make two expeditions, to

the Indian Himalaya and to Denali, both with the Alpine Mentors group.

Tell us more about Alpine Mentors. STEVE: You can hear the genesis story of Alpine

Mentors in the video on our website, alpinementors.org. I run this nonprofit with my wife, Eva, and it’s 100 percent volunteer – both the organizational work as well as the mentoring. Our mission is to promote alpinism by encouraging, coaching and climbing with technically proficient young alpinists who aspire to climb the world’s great mountains in a lightweight, low-impact style.

You’ve done some work for Patagonia, designing and giving input on gear. What are some of your favorite pieces? STEVE: I’m especially proud of the R1 hoody

Tell us where we can find your book and more information about you. STEVE: The book is available online and in Patagonia stores everywhere. My website is stevehouse. net and you can find me on Twitter and Instagram @stevehouse10.

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