Marathon of the Mountains

[Lowell_Skoog]

I found the following in one of the annuals of the Yakima Cascadians. I thought you might enjoy it.

 

Cascadian Annual 1965-67, p. 53, "Marathon of the Mountains"

 

From July 3-11, 1926, Clarence Starcher and Clarence Truitt of the Cascadians, together with Q.A. Blackburn of the Seattle Mountaineers, "made a record for mountain climbing and hiking that as a pleasure trip likely has no equal in the experience of mountaineers." Starting at Cloud Cap Inn on July 3, they climbed Mt Hood and descended to Government Camp, then drove to Spirit Lake. On July 4 they climbed up and down Mt St Helens and started hiking toward Mt Adams. On July 6 they climbed Mt Adams, descended the north side and started hiking toward Mt Rainier. On July 9 they climbed Mt Rainier by the Kautz Glacier and descended the Gibraltar route to Paradise. Then they hiked over the Cascade crest to Bumping Lake, from which point they were driven by automobile back to Yakima on July 11. They carried no bedding and subsisted on berries, nuts, dried fruits, and canned wheat. They estimated that during the nine-day trip they hiked approximately 350 miles and climbed 56,826 feet. (I haven't tried to check those figures.) The article includes a detailed log of the trip.

[Pencil_Pusher]

Yeah, those old farts from yesteryear were hardcore for braving the elements without the benefit of all the conveniences us young 'uns (relatively) enjoy.

Thanks for the look into the past.

[sketchfest]

Having recently attempted Olympus in a day, all I can say is KRIKEY!! what a bunch of toughies. here's to them!

[Fairweather]

Thanks! Great story. Starcher and Truitt were participants on Rusk's Castle climb in 1921. They were guided to the true summit, through the fog, by the sound of hammers building the new summit lookout. I think of this point in time when I run my hand along the cold, desiccated timbers as they now rest atop Mount Adams.

 

I believe they also carried Rusk's ashes to the top of The Castle a few years later. (Via a traverse from Piker's Peak?) I didn't realize however, that they were such "hard men".

[Terminal_Gravity]

Imagine what they could have done with GU & Goretex!

 

Their eatin nuts & berries...they auta be more careful...their settin a bad example.

[Lowell_Skoog]

I found a bit more information on this in the 1985 Cascadian Annual, in a newspaper clipping:

 

p. 8, The Wigwam, January 16, 1929, "Local Mountaineers Climb Four Cascades Peaks In Nine Days"

 

This article contains more details about the 1926 "Marathon of the Mountains" (cascadian-1980-p6). At the time of this article Q.A. Blackburn was with Commander Byrd in Antarctica. Truitt and Starcher drove from Yakima to Cloudcap Inn on July 2. On July 3, they climbed over the summit of Mt Hood to Government Camp. The car met them there and they drove to Spirit Lake where they met Blackburn. After climbing Mt St Helens, the three men hiked the Skyline Trail to Mt Adams and climbed up and down the north ridge of Adams. After the climb of Mt Rainier, Blackburn left the party at Paradise. Truitt and Starcher hiked to Bumping Lake to return to Yakima. Their packs were limited to 16 pounds.

 

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These articles are documented on my ski history project website: www.alpenglow.org/ski-history

 

You're right about Starcher and Truitt being on the Castle climb and placing Rusk's ashes up there later. Truitt was also a legendary Scout leader of Troop One in Yakima. There's an article in another Cascadian annual (in the 1970s) about some climbers finding Rusk's ashes on the Castle. They left the urn in place.

 

Those Yakima hard guys are under-appreciated on the west side of the Cascades.

[Pencil_Pusher]

Sixteen pounds? Fer cripes sake! I would've thought their boots would've weighed that much!

 

I'm impressed how back in those early years, especially during the Great Depression, none of the people in the photos were fat. Times were lean and the people were too.

 

What in all tarnation did these guys use for headlamps? Or did they just plow through the night? Maps, portable stoves and cookware, were sticks used for ice axes? I could see the sleeping in a big pile of leaves/shrubs, but holy frijoles, all this stuff we so readily have (polypro) they didn't. Advil?

 

I'm with sketchfest,

to those hardcore hard-men of the past.

 

for Bronka too.

[Lowell_Skoog]

Here's a link to a 2005 thread about a "Cascade Trifecta", for future reference:

 

http://www.cascadeclimbers.com/threadz/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/467265/page/0/fpart/1/vc/1

 

Sorry, my history geek tendencies got the better of me.