More North Cascades trivia

[klenke]

klenke said:

What lake in the North Cascades is believed to be the site of a former ancient stratovolcano long since eroded away? This volcano is associated with the Monte Cristo volcanics and was in its heyday between 36 and 25 million years ago.

Okay, I realize no one gives a rip about this cuz no one made a guess, but I care.

So here is your answer.

[Norman_Clyde]

I care, I just didn't have a clue as to the answer.

Next question: how does Breccia Peak encircle Round Lake, unless the peak has a big crater on top with the lake in the middle? I'm not trying to be a nit-picker, just hoping to increase my knowledge of the Cascades, like knowing the difference between a lake and a tarn.

 

Never mind. I found it on Topo, and the mountain really does encircle the lake.

Edited November 2, 2003 by Norman_Clyde

[klenke]

Attached is a slimy topo of Round Lake and Breccia Peak (it is "slimy" because I had to reduce the resolution to fit it into cc.com's 100kB limit). "Encircle" is obviously not exact, for there is one side open for the outflow. What word would be a better descriptor? "Surrounded" maybe.

 

At any rate, here is what Beckey has to say about the area (on his Lost Creek Ridge route description):

"Round Lake (5,040+ ft), surrounded by colorful volcanic cliffs, is reached by a short spur path;...The water fills a large breccia pipe and volcanic conduit."

 

Heck, it's only 3 miles to Bingley Gap and then another one mile east to the spur trail. Easy day trip. I might have to go and check it out from up close this month. I believe access to the trailhead is still possible.

[Lowell_Skoog]

HarryMajors said:

The "strawman" is --- actually, more correctly, the straw woman is Gertrude Harby.

 

[...]

 

Once Lowell has more free time at his disposal, we will likely discuss how to proceed further in this matter. Lowell already knows the sister of one of the Ptarmigans, and this individual may be the best intermediary through which to locate and contact either Gert or one of her relatives.

My engineering contract is winding down, so yesterday I had some time to clear my mind and make some phone calls to search for the Ptarmigan scrapbook.

 

Perhaps Monday is a good day for phone calling. For whatever reason, I had uncanny luck making connections. I talked to Ray Clough's sister, Chuck Kirschner, and then Gert Harby. Chuck told me that he organized a reunion of Ptarmigans and their spouses last summer and about 18 people came, including Gert. Of the surviving Ptarmigans Chuck located, all but two or three made it to the reunion. Some brought pictures and other memorabilia to share.

 

When I reached Gert Harby, she said she did not have the Ptarmigan club scrapbook. She thought the last person to have it may have been her brother. Her brother is in a nursing home in poor health, but she put me in touch with his daughter (Gert's niece) who lives in Sedro Woolley.

 

I spoke to Gert Harby's niece on the phone. She described the effort of moving her parents and their possessions from another part of the country to a nursing home near her. Over a very few days, she had to box up all her father's possessions and ship them home to Washington. She kept everything, including hundreds of mountain photographs, scrapbooks and other mementos. She doesn't really know what she has and couldn't tell me whether the Ptarmigan scrapbook is there. She said "it could be twenty years" before she is able to go through these materials, so she didn't know how she could help me. It was clear that she found the prospect of going through all those boxes daunting.

 

Through all of these phone calls, I was amazed at how helpful and friendly everyone associated with the Ptarmigans was to me, a complete stranger. Everyone I spoke to was supportive of my efforts to dig up Ptarmigan history and all of them said they would like to see any book that results from the effort. It's a sign, I think, that the Ptarmigans themselves appreciate that their group was special. Yet I doubt that any of them understand how widely acclaimed the Ptarmigans have become over the years.

 

I didn't feel I could ask anything more of Gert Harby's niece than she had already done by speaking to me. So I left her my name and phone number and offered that if she ever got inspired to go through her father's possessions, I would be willing to help. Perhaps in time something will come of it.

 

For the sake of her privacy, I am not going to post the name of Gert Harby's niece in this forum. I've sent a message to Harry Majors with this information and I've recorded it in my address book. Should I get "hit by a truck," as we say in the engineering biz, I hope that someone may be able to pick up the trail where it has ended for now.

 

[klenke]

 

By the way, Lowell, I'm an engineer and I've never heard of us referring to being 'hit by a truck.'

[Lowell_Skoog]

klenke said:

By the way, Lowell, I'm an engineer and I've never heard of us referring to being 'hit by a truck.'

 

Maybe it's a Fluke-ism. We used to say that at Fluke when an engineer went on vacation without having all his documentation up to date.

[sobo]

Lowell_Skoog said:

klenke said:

By the way, Lowell, I'm an engineer and I've never heard of us referring to being 'hit by a truck.'

 

Maybe it's a Fluke-ism. We used to say that at Fluke when an engineer went on vacation without having all his documentation up to date.

 

No, I don't think it's a Fluke-ism. I, too, are an engineer, and my boss uses that phrase when one of us goes on vacation.

[Norman_Clyde]

Lowell, you may indeed have found the Holy Grail. What an outstanding achievement in grass roots historical research!

 

Do you think Gert Harby's niece would consider donating her father's materials to an organization with the capability of organizing it for archival purposes? The Mountaineers would probably be interested, as would the University of Washington. The Ptarmigans are important enough in state history that any primary materials relating to them, in my opinion, would do well to reside at the university. I will look up the name of the curator for photos and pass it on to you (although you may already know this person from your own research).

[HarryMajors]

Lowell has just succeeded in making what promises to be the single greatest advance in our knowledge of the Ptarmigans during the past half-century! Not only is there the excellent likelihood that he has determined the present location of the Ptarmigan scrapbook, it would appear that he has also discovered a large, significant, and unexpected collection of additional photographs, scrapbooks, and other materials --- all of which promise to shed new and substantial light on the history of Northwest climbing and skiing during the 1930s. I cannot overemphasize the importance of Lowell's discovery. He, and he alone, is deserving of the greatest credit for this discovery.

 

Lowell --- please accept my compliments and commendation on your truly outstanding achievement in locating the Harby collection of photographs and scrapbooks. If this contains what it promises to, it represents by far the single most important source of material pertaining to the Ptarmigans and their achievements. The Ptarmigan Scrapbook of photographs and trip reports, documenting the first Ptarmigan Traverse and their first ascents in the Picket Range --- this is indeed the Holy Grail of Northwest mountaineering!

 

I believe that you have made the right and wise decision to let matters proceed at their own pace, for the time being. We have already waited since the 1930s for the Ptarmigan scrapbook to come to light. A few more months (or years) won't make that much difference. I shall leave it to your discretion as to when and how to proceed further in this matter. Things look very encouraging. It is just a matter of being patient, and letting things run their course.

 

The important thing is that there is the strong likelihood that the Ptarmigan scrapbook has finally been located, along with other important and entirely unexpected additional materials. I am confident that the Ptarmigan scrapbook will eventually find a safe and permanent home in the University of Washington Library, and that its contents will eventually be made available in published form.

 

 

[Skeezix]

Did anybody answer the "Three Dicks" question? The answer is the Triad.

 

Here's another NOCA trivia question: We all know that the North Cascades has attracted writers over the years, especially Beat writers Jack Kerouac, Gary Snyder, and Phil Whalen. What relatively well-known writer preceded Gary Snyder by about twenty years ...was hired by Marblemount Ranger Tommy Thompson to patrol and maintain trails between Marblemount and Stehekin?

[olyclimber]

Did anybody answer the "Three Dicks" question? The answer is the Triad.

 

Here's another NOCA trivia question: We all know that the North Cascades has attracted writers over the years, especially Beat writers Jack Kerouac, Gary Snyder, and Phil Whalen. What relatively well-known writer preceded Gary Snyder by about twenty years ...was hired by Marblemount Ranger Tommy Thompson to patrol and maintain trails between Marblemount and Stehekin?

 

Rexroth. That 'Poets on Peaks' is an interesting contrast of the Beat personalities...

[Skeezix]

Yes. Kenneth Rexroth, author of An Autobiographical Novel. Excerpts regarding Rexroth's time in the North Cascades are available online.

[Blake]

What Lassie Movie was filmed in Stehekin?

[Skeezix]

What Lassie Movie was filmed in Stehekin?

 

The Courage of Lassie w/ Elizabeth Taylor.

 

Lassie chased

[mikeL]

This is a great find! Bill Cox, who made the original Traverse, was my neighbor for many years. I'll forever regret that I never sat down and talked to him in detail about those days. One's priorities do change I guess.

[Skeezix]

What pass in the North Cascades is named after early trapper Gaspar Petta?

[olyclimber]

What pass in the North Cascades is named after early trapper Gaspar Petta?

 

"Bucking the brush, that's my pleasure"

Jasper Pass. OK, so I cheated and used Google. This book does sound interesting though.

[Lowell_Skoog]

Wow, the thread that wouldn't die!

 

Since Jeff revived this, here's another question. I suspect this is an easy one...

 

In 1935, the filming of a Hollywood movie prompted the state highway department to keep the road to Mt Baker Lodge open throughout the winter for the first time. This boosted Mt Baker's popularity as a winter sports destination and led to development of a ski area there. What was the movie and who where the stars?

[cj001f]

That would be "Call of the Wild" starring Clark Gable and Loretta Young.

[olyclimber]

What was the meaning of the native American name given to Mt. Baker, and what was that name?

[Lowell_Skoog]

That would be "Call of the Wild" starring Clark Gable and Loretta Young.

 

Yeah, too easy. Here's a little tougher one about someone who I think is interesting.

 

In 1935, this man graduated from the Mountaineers' first climbing course, taught single-handedly by Wolf Bauer. A year later he completed Wolf's first intermediate climbing course. In 1937, the course had grown too large for one person to teach, so this man took over from Wolf and split the course into subjects taught by different instructors. A year later, in order to help his students and friends get good quality equipment, he started a small cooperative venture in Seattle to import European climbing gear. In 1939, a young man named Fred Beckey graduated from the climbing course. This man became Fred's first climbing mentor and took him on his first first ascent.

 

From 1938 through 1940, this man made at least five first ascents in the North Cascades. Four of the peaks have names with connotations of evil, inaccessibility, hopelessness or success. The fifth peak has a name that was formerly applied to the entire sub-range where it resides. That sub-range was renamed by Fred Beckey in his Cascade Alpine Guide.

 

So, who was this climber? What was the venture he started in 1938? What five peaks did he pioneer? For extra credit, name other first ascents that he made. (I can't think of any off-hand, except one important climb in the B.C interior. But I suspect there were more.)

[Lowell_Skoog]

Oops, I didn't see olyclimber's question while I was composing mine. His question is still up for grabs!

[DPS]

So, who was this climber? What was the venture he started in 1938? What five peaks did he pioneer? For extra credit, name other first ascents that he made. (I can't think of any off-hand, except one important climb in the B.C interior. But I suspect there were more.)

 

Loyld Anderson, REI, Mt Degenhart.

[Stavrogin]

kulshan, meaning steep white mountain

[Lowell_Skoog]

Lloyd Anderson, REI, Mt Degenhart.

 

Lloyd Anderson and REI are correct, but Mt Degenhardt is not. So, we're still looking for five peaks with evocative names, one of them Fred's first first ascent.