October, 2009 M4 M6
The monthly publication of The Mountaineers
Volume 103, No. 10
Ma Nature’s value as a public utility Grants help restore flatland ecosystem NEW! Destinations: Do you have a favorite?
View from the Top Conservation Currents Summit Savvy Passages Off the Shelf
Mountaineer
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Club-wide elections
The election of Mountaineers Board of Trustees candidates will be held Wed., Oct. 21. Mountaineers members may vote electronically this year at www.mountaineers.org. For those without internet access, a ballot can be found on the next page. Please see pg. 2 of the Go Guide for candidate profiles and statements.
A viewing of ‘America’s Best Idea’—Thu., Oct. 1
Photo courtesy of Washington’s National Park Fund
Mountaineers and guests are invited to a viewing party this month of a film that praises the creation of our country’s national parks—some which would not have been created absent the passion and toil of people such as those with The Mountaineers more than a hundred years ago. The first episode of “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea,” a film by Ken Burns and Dayton Duncan, will premier on television Sept. 27 via PBS. However, The Mountaineers will feature a showing of Episode 5: “Great Nature,” on Thu., Oct. 1, at 8 p.m. at club headquarters. The fifth episode of the series focuses on the “golden age” of parks when the Civilian Conservation Corps was created and a young biologist’s work led to Congress passing a bill to protect the Everglades. It is also a period of growth for national parks, including Mt. Rainier and Olympic National Park, where The Mountaineers was particularly involved. Tickets for the show are $15. Proceeds will go toward expansion of the North Cascades National Park (home to El Dorado Peak above) via the American Alps Legacy Project and the Washington’s National Park Fund. For more information, see the ad on M3 or visit www.mountaineers.org.
Discover The Mountaineers
If you are thinking of joining or have joined and aren’t sure where to start - why not attend an information meeting? Check the Go Guide branch sections for times and locations. Are you ready to jump right in? Visit www.mountaineers.org. Need to call? 206-521-6000.
PERIODICAL POSTAGE PAID AT SEATTLE, WA
Everest ‘leftovers’ find spot on artist’s plate
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ost people know that ice doesn’t melt atop Mt. Everest and wood is not found there. But melting ice and wood are what led artist Jeff Clapp to journey some 9,000 miles from his home in Brunswick, Maine, to the base of Everest. After spending 20 years as a chef in the Northeast, he said he got tired of watching his ice sculptures
Bells from Everest
Spend an evening with artist Jeff Clapp
Thu., Oct. 15, 7 p.m., club headquarters
at weddings and banquets ”just melt away.” So, he turned to wood sculpting.
Fill up with Nikwax—The Mountaineers wants to show its appreciation to its members on Sun., Oct. 4, by opening the spout on hundreds of gallons of Nikwax. See pg. 1 of the Go Guide for details.
Upcoming
✔ ✔
His work earned displays in several exhibitions and galleries while he continued to work as a chef. “One day someone gave me a CO2 tank Continued on M5
The Mountaineers 7700 Sand Point Way N.E. Seattle, WA 98115
Jeff Clapp puts another Everest cylinder to lathe.
Climb Si for climate action! Oct. 24 will be International Climate Action day and two Mountaineers climbers are inviting everyone to join them for an awareness event at Mt. Si. See M4 for details on how to participate.
Get in the climbing queue: As one climbing season ends, another is about to begin. Enrollment for next year’s climbing courses is just around the corner, starting with the Seattle Branch program. See pg. 9 of the Go Guide. Eric Simonson to visit Tacoma: The Tacoma Branch will host one of the biggest names in climbing when it holds its Annual Banquet on Oct. 17. See pg. 13 of the Go Guide for details.
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The
The Mountaineer
Purposes and mission
The club’s mission: To enrich the community by helping people explore, conserve, learn about and enjoy the lands and waters of the Pacific Northwest. The club’s charter lists its purposes as follows: —To explore and study the mountains, forests and other water courses of the Northwest and beyond. —To gather into permanent form the history and traditions of these regions and explorations. —To preserve by example, teaching and the encouragement of protective legislation or otherwise the natural beauty of the natural environment. —To make expeditions and provide educational opportunities in fulfillment of the above purposes. —To encourage a spirit of good fellowship among all lovers of outdoor life. —To hold real estate and personal property and to receive, hire, purchase, occupy, and maintain and manage suitable buildings and quarters for the furtherance of the purposes of the association, and to hold in trust or otherwise funds, received by bequest or gift or otherwise, to be devoted to the purposes of said association.
Mountaineer
The Mountaineers is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1906 and dedicated to the responsible enjoyment and protection of natural areas. Board of Trustees Officers President Eric Linxweiler, 08-10 President Elect Tab Wilkins, 08-10 Past President Bill Deters, 08-09 VP Properties Dave Claar, 08-10 VP Publishing Don Heck, 08-10 Treasurer Mike Dean, 08-10 Secretary Steve Sears, 08-10 Trustees at large Kirk Alm, 07-10 Rich Draves, 08-11 Dale Flynn, 07-10 Ed Henderson, 08-11 Lynn Hyde, 08-11 Don Schaechtel, 06-09 Eva Schönleitner, 06-09 Dave Shema, 07-10 Mona West, 06-09
Also see us on the web at www.mountaineers.org
Managing Editor Brad Stracener
Contributors, proofreaders: Barb Butler, Brian Futch, James Hampton, Jim Harvey, Suzan Reiley, Darla Tishman Photographers & Illustrators: Scott Marlow
THE MOUNTAINEER is published monthly by: The Mountaineers, 7700 Sand Point Way N.E. Seattle, WA 98115 206-521-6000; 206-523-6763 fax
Branch Trustees Bellingham, Steven Glenn Everett, Rob Simonsen Foothills, Gerry Haugen Kitsap, Jimmy James Olympia, John Flanagan Seattle, Mike Maude Tacoma, Tom Shimko Interim Executive Director Mona West
Volume 103, No. 10 The Mountaineer (ISSN 0027-2620) is published monthly by The Mountaineers, 7700 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115. Members receive a subscription as part of their annual dues. Approximately $12.42 of each member’s annual membership dues is spent to print and mail this publication. Non-member subscriptions to The Mountaineer are $32. Periodicals postage paid at Seattle, WA. Postmaster: send address changes to The Mountaineer, 7700 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115. Opinions expressed in articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of The Mountaineers.
Who ya gonna call? Your mentor, of course
Are you a new member wondering about the how-to, where-to and what-to-do with your club? There are a number of resources available to you, not the least our websites. Now there is also a real, live person. If you want to know about expected conditioning for a hike, what not to wear, how to sign up for events or whatever call or e-mail the “mentor of the month.” Mona West is this month’s mentor. Feel free to contact her at
[email protected] with your questions or comments.
View from the Top
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October a pivotal month for Mountaineers
— We successfully created and moved into North America’s foremost mountaineering center, complete with facilities to teach all aspects of the alpine environment (including the world’s third largest mountaineering library). — We embarked on a journey to bring new leadership to The Mountaineers, ensuring that we are focused on our second century—growing in a sustainable and sound fashion. — We’ve successfully launched several entry-level mountaineering programs (namely Junior Mountaineers and Trailhead), driven by of our program development initiatives. — Our Legacy Society for planned giving was established. — Mountaineers Books has continued to evolve and thrive, moving a record number of books into the digital era. Even some of the little changes have been exciting. This year, we’ll have our first electronic election, one that hopefully will yield more voices in helping to ensure the right leaders are moving our club forward. Many thanks to our club leaders in bringing this to The Mountaineers. Over the past few years, your board has done an awesome job at ensuring we are making the right investments in the right areas to both fulfill our mission, as well as move our strategic plan forward. None of this could be done without the unwavering support of each of you. Countless hours are poured into The Mountaineers by those that love, maintain and sustain it. We’ll have some exciting news for you next month, as we continue on our path of evolution and transition. The world never stops turning if you are a Mountaineer!
By Eric Linxweiler, president
ctober is a great time to be a Mountaineer! It’s a time when we can grasp one last weekend of “summer,” enjoy cool weekends before snows and rains return, and gear up for what promises to be an excellent winter in the Northwest. October is also the start of a new year for The Mountaineers. Our fiscal year starts, as well as a new election for our board of trustees. Normally this is a non-event, but as our organization transitions itself, it is worth a second to consider just how far we’ve actually come. Consider how much progress we’ve made over the past year. Here are some highlights:
For the first time, Mountaineers will be able to vote for their officers via computer online. However, those Mountaineers members without internet access may vote in the 2009 club-wide election by completing the election ballot below, cutting it out and submitting it by Oct. 21, 5 p.m., to: The Mountaineers, 7700 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115 Please select only three of the following candidates for the three open seats on The Mountaineers Board of Trustees. (The data used for mailing that appears on the opposite side of this ballot will be used to verify and validate votes.)
2010 Mountaineers Ballot
In next month’s Mountaineer:
– Dosewallips update
– Profiles of service—volunteers who go the extra mile
John Ohlson Mark Scheffer Matt Sullivan Mona West
How far will you go this year?
www.mountaineers.org
Mountaineers
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Candidates’ statements and profiles can be found on pg. 2 of the Go Guide. Please read them before voting.
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The Mountaineer
Protection of the Northwest’s natural resources requires knowledge of terrain—politically and physically. The Mountaineers Northwest Environmental Issues Course provides the former, equipping advocates with the necessary tools and awareness to lobby for preservation of our natural resources—at no charge to the student. The Mountaineers partners with the University of Puget Sound and the Washington Environmental Council to present the curriculum, which supports the upcoming 2010 environmental legislative focus as identified through the Environmental Priorities Coalition. These priorities will be set by working closely with the broader environmental community and will focus on promoting the protection of our land, air and water. The coalition will announce the identified legislative focus in October. The course runs from Oct. 21 to Nov. 18. Lectures will be held Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the University of Puget Sound, Collins Memorial Library, Room 303. The course can be offered free to all participants through generous grants from The
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Mountaineers Foundation and the University of Puget Sound. For more information, contact Katharine Appleyard, Sound Policy Institute at the University of Puget Sound, 253-879-3716,
[email protected], or Nancy Neyenhouse, 253.848.9448,
[email protected].
Northwest Environmental Issues Course—South Sound—to start Oct. 1
Don’t forget to vote!
Log on to www.mountaineers.org to cast your elec(see candidate profiles on pg. 2 of the Go Guide). If lot on M2. You have until 5 p.m. Wed., Oct. 21! tronic vote for The Mountaineers Board of Trustees
you are without access to the internet, cut out the bal-
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Can you identify the summit
in the foreground here? Send your answer (by Oct. 10) to: Summit Savvy, The Mountaineer, 7700 Sand Point Way N.E., Seattle, WA 98115. If you guess correctly, you’ll receive $10 of Mountaineers Money, good for Mountaineers Bookstore merchandise, and we’ll publish your name in next month’s column. (In case of a tie, one winner will be chosen at random.) Club employees or persons shown in the photograph are not eligible. Each month we’ll publish a new mystery summit and identification of the previous one.
The Mountaineer
■ Send your photographs (or slides) for possible publication as a mystery summit (include identification for our benefit). If we use your photo, you will get $10 of Mountaineers Money as well. ■ At the end of each year, all correct respondents’ names are placed in a hat and the winner of that drawing will receive $50 of Mountaineers Money good for purchases at The Mountaineers Bookstore. ■ No one identified last month’s mystery summit, Mt. Dana, as photographed by Curtis Baxstrom.
Summit Savvy
conservation CURRENTS
Imagine your invoice if Mother Nature charged for her services
valuation to date. Titled “A New View of the Puget Sound Economy,” the study deduces that the value of nature’s benefits to Puget Sound Basin’s 4.3 million residents is anywhere from $243 billion to $2.1 trillion. The natural capital can thus be used by economists to compare with costs of built capital, such as dams, repairs to roads (Mt. Rainier National Park, for example), recovery aid to farms and businesses, and so on. As the study notes in its executive summary, “What is at stake is nothing less than our economic prosperity and quality of life. Our quality of life is excellent by any standard.” It goes on, “Yet, while the Puget Sound Basin boasts more houses,
cars, roads, buildings and other elements of ‘built capital’ every year, most of our natural systems are deteriorating . . . These natural systems are valuable and vital economic assets.”
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By Brad Stracener
ow much is a wetland worth to the owner of a $2 million home on beachfront property? Perhaps more than the homeowner could ever imagine. Indeed, it could be more than anyone could imagine or even formulate. However, the authors of an “Earth Economics Study” are trying to make the formulization of nature’s value in goods and services a bit easier. While billions are spent on dams or sewage treatment plants to provide the public with protection from floods or bacteria, nature provides its own inherent protections to the public. In the lexicon of the study, these man-made and nature-made services to our well-being are “built capital” and “natural capital,” respectively. Putting a dollar figure on the savings that natural capital entails is much more complex than, say, putting a dollar figure on a coho salmon caught by a sport fisher at the mouth of the Columbia River or the economic benefits that result from the dredging of a bay to create a harbor or port for transport of goods. But the study, led by David Batker, attempts to bring economists closer to appropriating values to these goods and services that nature provides. Batker is an economist and the executive director of Earth Economics, a non-profit organization in Seattle.
Land, rivers and air provide many services that sustain humankind. Wetlands absorb rainwater and control floodwater, forests filter drinking water and river estuaries harbor young migratory fish that later become large enough for us to eat. Beaches on all of our bodies of water, fresh or salt, are sources of recreation. Earth Economics maintains that we suffer great expense when we damage nature’s built-in services. Citing other studies, the Earth Economics study notes that interest in identifying, describing and quantifying the economic value of ecosystem services has grown tremendously over the past 20 years, “expressly for the purpose of improving environmental decisionmaking.”
he study asserts, “True economics provides a better view of our full suite of economic assets, including the economic benefits of natural systems, which provide for our common wealth . . . the air we breathe, the water we drink, hospitable climate regulation, aesthetic beauty, and protection from flood and storm.” For more about Earth Economics and its study, visit the website, www.eartheconomics.org. Brad Stracener is managing editor of The Mountaineer.
Day of Climate Action aims to tack on miles at Mt. Si
The International Day of Climate Action on Sat., Oct. 24, aims to tag hundreds of miles onto the trail up Mt. Si.
Mountaineers climbing leaders Sunny Remington and Eileen Kustcha are helping to make sure that at least 42 people join them on that Saturday to raise awareness and a sense of urgency about the need to reduce CO2 levels in our atmosphere. A reduction to 350 ppm is what scientists have identified as the safe upper limit—a level not seen since the 1980s. Currently, the level is 389 ppm. Carpooling will be highly encouraged to this event, a hike of eight miles with an elevation gain of 4200 ft. The aim, according to Remington, is to collect enough participants to collectively hike 350 miles on the mountain near North Bend. The sponsor of the nationwide event, 350.org, calls for organizers of awareness events to incorporate the number 350. Those interested in participating should contact either Remington,
[email protected], 206354-8518, or Kustcha, 206-2763683, Eileen_kutscha@yahoo. com, by Tue., Oct. 20.
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he study says that “ecosystem functions and the services they produce are diverse and operate across large landscapes (storm buffering) or, in some cases, the whole planet (carbon sequestration). Highly interdependent physical and biological systems make life, and economic life, on the planet possible.” The complexity of equating dollar value to nature’s provisions lies in the “large landscapes” involved, such as the process of carbon sequestration and the distribution of ocean nutrients. The landscape is so large that Earth Economics could only attach values to 12 ecosystem services while identifying 23 categories of ecosystem services. And yet this study is the most comprehensive
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How far will you go this year?
atker and his team base the study on nature’s ability to provide us with goods and services that do not require man’s hand.
www.mountaineers.org
Mountaineers
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The Mountaineer
Continued from M1 from the restaurant. I put it on a metal lathe, cut some grooves in the side and made a bell out of it,” Clapp recounted. “But it was not as beautiful as wood, so I gave up on the whole bell idea at that point.”
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Arriving alone in Hong Kong and Bangkok to catch a flight to Nepal was not without its apprehension. “I had never traveled that far away alone,” he stated. After approaching the front desk at his hotel in Kathmandu, he told the clerk his name and “they scratched their heads.” They didn’t have his name listed. “I said to myself, oh no, I am here all alone. What am I going to do now?” Desperate for some kind of identifying information, he started to tell his story, and then dropped the name of Dan Mazur. “They all of a sudden perked up,” he said, “and told me that (Dan) was actually in the building. In fact, he was standing right behind me. I could have cried.” “So I talked to Dan and invited myself to dinner.” After seven days of traveling with little time to sit down for a full meal, “I just wanted someone to eat with,” he said with a laugh. It turned out that Mazur was leading an expedition. Clapp was invited along to trek the Khumbu region “while the climbers did their thing.” Instead of trekking alone with his own Sherpa, as planned, he suddenly had the company of 40 others all the way through the Khumbu. In the meantime, the travel agent for Mazur’s guiding company arranged Clapp’s transportation and the Sherpas for retrieval of the cylinders, which ended up being the very same cylinders that appeared in the picture his daughter had brought home from school. “It was fun trekking with Jeff to base camp,” said Mazur, who eventually joined Clapp on a few lectures at which Clapp would talk about the bells and Mazur about Himalayan climbing. “I got to learn a lot about the bells through that,” said Mazur. “Jeff is a unique individual with fantastic ideas and a fine artist,” added Mazur, who said a small bowl made by Clapp “occupies pride of place in my home.” Knowledge of the Bells from Everest project snowballed once it became known amongst the Sherpa communities. The government offered a price tag of $25 for each tank that Clapp could take out of the Khumbu. Trash was viewed by the government as not conducive to tourism, Clapp said. His project gained momentum in the states as well. Backpacker magazine eventually ran an article about him, after he had approached them for support, as did the American Alpine Club’s publication.
Guide comes to rescue of Clapp and bells
Then, about six years ago, Clapp was watching a National Geographic special on Mt. Everest. He learned about all the expended oxygen tanks left on the mountain by climbers. The idea then sprouted: “I looked at it like I was stepping into a large walk-in (cooler). What do you do with the leftovers? That’s what the restaurant business is all about. You have some prime rib that isn’t quite steak material, so you make a beef pot pie or stroganoff out of it.” He applied his culinary acumen to the oxygen tanks: he would salvage them to make bells and bowls. The devices that kept people alive on their way to the world’s highest peak could be given a new, extended life.
Trekking the Khumbu. Though it was a nifty scheme to recycle debris otherwise left in a pristine environment, Clapp admits that self-interest also served as motivation. “To become famous as an artist, you usually have to die to start with. I didn’t want to wait that long.” So, he was looking for ways to “become noted without dying.” However, it was his knowledge of what art can do that compelled him to journey to Nepal and the discarded tanks. “What I have done is symbolic. I have not really pulled that much trash off Everest but I have hopefully inspired others to do great things in their lives.” So far, he has pulled exactly 132 pieces of trash—oxygen tanks—off of Everest. The project may not have materialized had Jeff and his wife, Wendy Rawson, not attended a presentation by mountain guide Dan Mazur at MIT. It was there that Clapp said he first presented “this crazy idea” to someone in the mountain community. He eventually asked Mazur, who specializes in Himalayan climbs and treks, how he might access the discarded oxygen cylinders. “Dan said, ‘for $200 I can bring one up for you.’ I told him I wanted all of them.” After hearing what Clapp had planned for the tanks, Mazur, who has trekked and climbed the region since 1986, provided Clapp with some names and connections to his guide services, Summit Climb and Summit Treks. “I thought it was a great idea right away,” Mazur stated. Clapp then started to plan logistics for a trip that would actually prove nostalgic for him if not life changing.
Bells and bowls—finished product.
“Jeff is a unique individual with fantastic ideas”
On the cusp of a ski trip to Telluride, he said he had “an epiphany” while applying the lathe to the cylinders. “The excess was spraying off like little steel scrubbies, and my floor was full of shavings.” Making trash of what was originally trash would make the project self-defeating, he said. “My first thought was turning the shavings into Christmas ornaments. Instead of bells for $1,500, I could share a little piece of history by selling ornaments for a few dollars a piece.” In 2005, he was a featured artist at theTelluride Mountain Film Festival, and in 2007, a presenter at Disney’s Holidays Around The World. Disney World had just added a new ride named for Mt. Everest. He was a finalist for a National Geographic award among the likes of Patagonia and North Face. He also was commissioned, at the behest of climbing great Reinhold Messner, to craft a bell for the Messner climbing museum. Neiman Marcus, meanwhile, has listed his work in its catalog. He has cut into about half of the 132 cylinders and the bells are reaching many of the galleries that exhibited his wood sculptures. Clapp said his show for The Mountaineers will be “all about perspective and imagination,” adding, “I want everyone to have a part in this crazy adventure.” Asked if he still donned the chef’s hat, he replied over the phone, “I’ve got a wedding to do tomorrow.” Brad Stracener is managing editor of The Mountaineer.
– Dan Mazur, Himalayan mountain guide
His father worked as a teacher for families of his employer, a petroleum company in Arabia. “We were given some travel coupons by my dad’s company when we left Arabia,” Clapp recounted. Among the coupons was a stay in Nepal. He saw many wonders on that trip but all at the age of 5. “I had always regretted how young I was and that I couldn’t remember it all,” said Clapp. If that wasn’t enough to compel him, an augury of sorts was presented by his daughter, Taylor, just before he booked his flight to Nepal. In third grade, she had brought home from class a weekly reader about Everest and the Nepalese Mountaineering Association’s efforts to clean up the mountain. It showed Appa Sherpa, who has reached Everest’s summit more than any other person on the planet, kneeling by a pile of oxygen cylinders. “This was a sign,” said Clapp, “that told me, Jeff, you are doing the right thing.” He booked his flight in February of 2004. Though a knee-high world traveler at one time, Clapp found his adult proclivity for travel an entirely different affair.
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restoring riparian habitat. The Mountaineers Foundation has a longstanding relationship with ONDA, founded in 1987 to protect, defend and restore the health of Oregon’s native deserts. The foundation has been supporting the ONDA mission since 2001. Grants from the foundation have been used by ONDA to educate and fight for wilderness designation while mitigating adverse ecological impacts from domestic livestock grazing.
The Mountaineer
Years of cattle grazing and beaver trapping in this area have reduced once beautiful riparian habitat—full of beaver—into dry, dusty canyons. Instead of streams overflowing their banks behind beaver dams, the water cut a deep path straight down into the land, forming stream canyons 30-40 feet deep, devoid of vegetation. The beautiful result of volunteers planting trees along these streams is the return of a healthy population of beavers that are once again damming streams to provide habitat for waterfowl and a host of other animals.
Volunteers tackle flatland restoration via foundation grants
Volunteers pulled nearly 10 miles of barbed wire from north-central Oregon. Editor’s note: Following is a firsthand account by Nancy Neyenhouse of work on the ground accomplished by recipients of grant money from The Mountaineers Foundation. Neyenhouse, a Mountaineers member for 12 years, sits on The Mountaineers Foundation Community Grants Committee. organizations and programs that further the foundation’s mission of protecting natural areas, but I can actually visit the places where this work is being done. This August, my husband and I visited the Oregon Natural Desert Association (ONDA), headquartered in Bend, Oregon. Jefferson Jacobs, ONDA outreach director, spent the day with us, taking us to sites where ONDA is actively removing barbed wire from former ranch lands now set aside as wilderness, refuge, or conservation areas and
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eing a member of the foundation’s Community Grants Committee has great perks. Not only do I have the opportunity to actively support great community environmental
he day began with an overview of the areas in which ONDA is currently active with their large cadre of volunteers. Presently, ONDA volunteers are heavily involved in the Pine Creek Conservation Area where they are removing old barbed-wire fencing from former ranch lands and planting trees along streams that have been decimated by domestic cattle grazing. (Please see the ONDA website at www.onda.org for complete information.) The area we visited had been cleared of barbed wire earlier in the year by volunteers from both the Great Old Broads and the Mazamas.
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alking up and over the hills with Jefferson was a treat. His passion and excitement about what ONDA does and his work with the volunteers was evident with every step we took. Camping out with the Great Old Broads and the Mazamas for days at a time wasn’t a bad gig either. Volunteers have pulled nearly 10 miles of barbed wire fencing from this area. After it is pulled and bundled, it is removed, and what isn’t terribly rusted is recycled for use by farmers and ranchers in other areas—great for community relations.
Diane Altwein, a 40-year member of The Mountaineers, began her
Passages
final journey to the mountains of the great beyond on Aug. 13, 2009. During her tenure as a member, she made many contributions to both the club and the outdoor community. A graduate of the Alpine Scrambling Course, Diane volunteered at Stevens Lodge and Kitsap Cabin, where she helped to park cars during the plays at the Forest Theater. She was a longtime member of the Library Committee and skilled in carpentry. She built locking, glass, bookcases to securely house the club’s growing rare-book collection at its 719 Pike St. location. The cases were later relocated to the 300 3rd Ave. W. headquarters. Altwein joined two club-sponsored international outings to Nepal. She also made many valuable contributions to fellow Mountaineer and trail advocate Ruth Ittner’s “wouldn’t you like to do . . .” requests. Always ahead of her time, Altwein organized volunteer trail-work parties well before the U.S. Forest Service considered implementing volunteer labor. Putting her carpentry skills to use again, she built boxes for transporting equipment to the worksite on pack animals. She also rounded up trail-work volunteers, including a cook for the trail crews. Some of her efforts resulted in the Whitechuck Bench Trail and the nearby Beaver Ponds Trail near Darrington. Born Feb. 27, 1940, she received a doctorate degree in pharmaceutical chemistry from the University of Washington at a time when pharmacy was a male-dominated profession. Through her perseverance, she was able to work as a pharmacist in Texas. Ultimately, she returned to college to pursue a career in chemistry with the Washington State Department of Health as well as the Food and Drug Administration.
BANFF RETURNS TO WASHINGTON!
Big thrills. Exotic locales. Wanderlust. The Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour promises an experience like no other. Fresh from the October festival in Banff, Canada, the best mountain-themed films from around the world make their way to Seattle, Olympia and Tacoma. Tickets always go fast for this popular event. Get your tickets today!
SEATTLE
December 2, 3, 4 @ 7 pm.
Tickets: $10 Mountaineers, $15 General. Tickets are available through the Mountaineers office, or by calling 206-521-6001.
OLYMPIA
December 5 @ 7 pm, December 6 @ 6 pm
Tickets: $12 Saturday, $10 Sunday; $20 for both. $2 discount Sunday for Mountaineers, Olympia Film Society members and students w/ID Tickets are available in advance through The Alpine Experience and Olympic Outfitters, both in downtown Olympia, or at the theater each night.
TACOMA
December 8 @ 7 pm
Tickets: $10 Mountaineers/UPS staff, faculty and students. $13 General Schneebeck Concert Hall, University of Puget Sound Tickets: 253-879-3419
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The Mountaineer
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cast for a week is essential. You should time your travel to work with the low tides. My preference would be low the opposite (high tides in the middle of the day), so I backpacked in the morning, had to wait several hours for the high tides to turn, then continued backpacking in tides in the middle of the day, so that I can backpack all day long. On this trip, I had
Destinations
Olympic National Park Coast
the afternoon. At the south end (near Oil City), where there is a small headland, you need a tide of 2 feet or lower to go around the head. The highest and lowest tides of the month are when there is a new moon.
At Neah Bay I hiked six-tenths of a mile to spectacular Cape Flattery (the northwest point of the lower 48 states) and also visited the Makah Museum, which features mudslide. I passed the archeological dig near Cape Alava on my hike. historic artifacts uncovered from the Ozette Indian village buried 500 years ago in a My preference is to backpack from south to north (Oil City to Neah Bay) to avoid
Brad Stracener photo
the Makah tribal recreation fee ($10) and overnight parking fee ($10 per day). The Oil City trailhead parking lot is not secure, so have a cover over any gear left in your car. My shuttles consisted of five hitchhikes and two buses, all for only 25 cents. Public transport
A view of Toleak Point along the Olympic National Park Coast trail.
Editor’s note: Craig Miller, an outings leader for The Mountaineers, hiked the wilderness of Washington’s Olympic Coast late this summer—a trek that took him 60 miles from Neah Bay to Oil City. In the spirit of inspiring and informing other Mountaineers wishing to enjoy the splendors of our state’s wilderness, The Mountaineer features his trip, including advice and essential information, in the debut of a new column, “Destinations.”
• Clallam Transit operates a large bus on Route 16 from Forks Transit Center to Neah Bay every day except Sunday for 75 cents: http://www.clallamtransit.com/route-16-timetable.html. • Jefferson Transit operates a small bus on Route 15 from Forks Transit Center to for 75 cents: La Push (they dropped me at the Third Beach trailhead) every day except Sunday http://www.clallamtransit.com/route-15-timetable.html. • Jefferson Transit operates a small bus from Forks to just north of Oil City to Sunday for 25 cents: US-101 intersection (called Upper Hoh Road on their schedule) every day except http://www.jeffersontransit.com/schedules/westjeff.html.
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his narrow strip of coast is between two dramatically different worlds – the ocean and the forest. Highlights include the amazing intertidal zone (new for me were gooseneck barnacles), scenery (sea stacks and crashing waves), and tides.
On my seven-day trip in August, I experienced the lowest and highest tides of the I instead camped above the beach and in the trees. My campsites this trip were: month. I prefer sleeping on the sand beaches, but at the highest tides of the month,
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– Seafield Creek (this was a challenge the first afternoon with incoming tides – Sand Point around Point of the Arches)
– Norwegian Memorial – Scott Creek
– Between Chilean Memorial and Hole-in-the-Wall – Mosquito Creek How to go about it This is a backpack along sand beaches, but also, a scramble around rocky, wet headlands. Wear good boots with Vibram soles. It is better to carry an internalframe pack rather than an external-frame pack.
Don’t forget to vote!
Log on to www.mountaineers.org to cast your elec(see candidate profiles on pg. 2 of the Go Guide). If lot on M2. You have until 5 p.m. Wed., Oct. 21! tronic vote for The Mountaineers Board of Trustees
When you get the required permit for trips of at least a week, I suggest asking the canister made by Garcia.
you are without access to the internet, cut out the bal-
ranger for a lightweight Kevlar food canister, rather than the traditional plastic food I recommend hiking this stretch of coast from July through September, when rivers and creeks can be crossed at low volumes and at low tides. I had no problems crossing Ozette River, Goodman Creek and Mosquito Creek. A good weather fore-
Andrew N. Hunt Agent New York Life Insurance Company 11400 S.E. 8th St., Ste. 300 Bellevue, WA 98004 (253) 820-9518; www.andrewnhunt.com /
[email protected]
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October 009
The Mountaineer
the irate birdwatcher
Wednesday, November 4 at 7 pm
The Mountaineers Building 7700 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle This is a FREE event. All are welcome! Harvey Manning, a Northwest writer and legendary conservationist, used his words and actions to open people’s eyes to nature’s beauty and to urge them to save it. The Irate Birdwatcher is a film inspired by the written works of Manning, with a focus on wilderness preservation. Manning was the voice of a dedicated band of hikers and climbers who sought to create North Cascades National Park and other wilderness areas. Join us to celebrate the vision and dedication of a true legend - Harvey Manning.
olar bears are widely considered to be an indicator species with regards to the effects of climate change. In his book The Last Polar Bear, photographer Steven Kazlowski brings this critical issue to life with his unparalleled imagery. Join us for a presentation of this magnificent animal in its natural - and endangered - habitat.
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Branches
Thursday, November 12 at 7 pm The Mountaineers, 7700 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle Tickets: $8 Mountaineers, $10 General. Available through the Mountaineers Bookstore.
The LasT Steven Kazlowski ear PoLar B An evening with
You can climb but you cannot hide. An otherwise-concealed Dan Azer does not fool a mountain goat’s nose for high-altitude intruders. Azer was climbing Liberty Bell via the Blue Lake Trailhead.
Hide-n-go-seek
Scott Marlow photo
& limbs
Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition in Seattle, is currently being presented at various King County venues. Vic McDaniel and Ray Francisco, fresh high school graduates, set out on their second-hand bicycles from Santa Rosa in August of 1909 to take on the challenge of cycling from their home to the expo (AYPE). They pedaled, pushed and walked 1,000 miles of primitive roads for 54 days and encountered nearly every imaginable natural, mechanical and human challenge on their one-speed bikes. While adventure was their primary lure, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer promised that a purse of $25 would await them if they made it to the AYPE before its final day. In recognition of the AYPE centennial, Book-It Repertory Theatre and 4Culture’s Heritage and Site-Specific performance divisions are presenting the show, “Two Wheels North,” by Evelyn McDaniel Gibb, adapted and directed by Annie Lareau. The performance can be seen at nine different venues in King County. Visit the Book-It website at www.book-it.org for more details about tickets and venue locations.
Secrets of SHANGRI-LA
With renowned mountaineer Pete Athans Friday, November 13 at 7 pm
The Mountaineers, 7700 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle Tickets: $10 Mountaineers, $15 General. Available through the Mountaineers Bookstore.
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ravel to the high Himalayan kingdom of Mustang with Pete Athans as his journey leads him to a surprising find - a treasure trove of ancient Buddhist texts and images. Learn how he later traveled back with a multidisciplinary team to document, study and begin to preserve this amazing find.
Cyclers’ story takes stage
An on-stage reading performance, based on a book about two young bicyclers, who, in 1909 pedaled from their home in California to the
Yoga • Hiking •Culture Swimming Sunshine •Yoga •Hiking • Culture ••Swimming• •Sunshine
Yoga Retreats
Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
Roy Holman Roy Holman
Costa Rica -Cedar Springs - 7, 2008 19-21, 2007 Washington: Nov. 28-Dec. October Washington: Methow Valley Retreat, double $295 includes all organic Includes 9 nights room $1,195 – Shared room,meals, classes,Oct. 2-4, 2009 $350 – Includes two nights shared lodging, organic hotel, most meals, classes, ground transport meals, classes, hikes, and other activities Costa Rica - November 23 – from Seattle) (Or: $1,995 includes RT airDec 1, 2007 - Roy H & Christine Borys
Mexico: Yelapa - Jan. 16-24, 2009 $1,195 – Includes 8 nights hotel, most meals, classes, ground transport $1,195 – Includes 8 nights 18-26, 2008 - Roy H classes, ground hotel, most Mexico: Yelapa - January from Seattle) meals, & Linda Lapping (Or: $1,750 includes RT air transport (Or:Includes 8includes RT air from Seattle) Mexico ground $1,195 shared: $1,795 nights hotel, most meals, classes, Guatemala: Lake Atitlan – Feb. 18-28, 2010 Guatemala: Lake Atitlan most meals, classes, 9, 2009 $1,395 – Lake Atitlan - – Feb. 26-March Roy H & Kara ground transport ($2,150 Guatemala:11 nights hotel, Feb 14-25, 2008classes, ground Keating $1,295 – RT air fromhotel, most meals, 11 nights Seattle) transport includes $1,295 shared: 11 nights Hotel, Most Meals, Classes, Ground transport ($1,995 includes RT air from Seattle) includes RT air from Seattle) ($1,895
transport (Or: $1,695 includes RT air from Seattle)
$1,195 Shared room, Includes 8 nights hotel, most meals, classes, ground transport Yelapa$1,895 22-30, 2010 from Seattle) Mexico: (Or: - Jan includes RT air
A new way to pay!
Members can take a bite out of their dues payment by enrolling in our monthly dues program. Each month, you pay 1/12th of your dues rate. That’s a little over $6 a month for most members! Get started today by visiting the webpage below. www.mountaineers.org/autopay.html
Roy is a Mountaineer member, hike leader, yoga and meditation teacher, minister, and reflexologist. Classes & Workshops in the Everett area. Weddings officiated too!
Contact for more info: Roy Holman 425-303-8150, www.holmanhealthconnections.com Yoga For Every Body
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