Lowell_Skoog Posted April 29, 2010 Posted April 29, 2010 Today's Seattle Times has a notice of the death of R. Duke Watson, a remarkable Northwest mountaineer. Here is the paid notice that ran in the paper: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/seattletimes/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=142327975 And here is my 2006 profile of Duke from the Northwest Mountaineering Journal: http://www.mountaineers.org/NWMJ/06/061_Watson1.html Mountain soldier, pioneer climber and skier, conservationist, adventurer, and family man, Duke continues to inspire me. He lived to 94, and will be fondly remembered by his many friends. Quote
Doug Posted April 29, 2010 Posted April 29, 2010 Thanks Lowell, one of my neighbors ( a spry 78 or so) continued to hike with Duke on a regular basis until last year. An awesome dude! Quote
goatboy Posted April 29, 2010 Posted April 29, 2010 I noticed that the link in the Seattle times article to the NWMJ is a broken link. Too bad, not sure whom to contact to have them fix it? Quote
AlpineK Posted April 30, 2010 Posted April 30, 2010 I'll have to talk to my dad. He'd go hiking on mellow trails with Duke and other old time climber buddies. Just a few months back was the last time. Duke was a great guy. Quote
wayne Posted April 30, 2010 Posted April 30, 2010 Jeez, that man was amazing! Great read, thanks Lowell and NWMJ! Quote
toproper Posted April 30, 2010 Posted April 30, 2010 Wow, amazing life. Seems like he deserves a cascades peak named in his honor. Quote
JoshK Posted April 30, 2010 Posted April 30, 2010 Wow, amazing life. Seems like he deserves a cascades peak named in his honor. Any chance the Mt. Watson up near Baker is named for him? I couldn't find a name history for it in Beckey or SlummitPost. Quote
Lowell_Skoog Posted April 30, 2010 Author Posted April 30, 2010 Wow, amazing life. Seems like he deserves a cascades peak named in his honor. Any chance the Mt. Watson up near Baker is named for him? I couldn't find a name history for it in Beckey or SlummitPost. I doubt it. Duke has always been an amazingly low-key guy. I don't know where the name of that peak came from. My way of remembering Duke (besides the profile that I wrote) is to keep the name of Wamihaspi Peak alive. Wamihaspi is a contraction of "Watson, Milnor, Hall and Spickard" who made an early ascent of the peak. The name was a joke, but the Indian-sounding word made it into Beckey's red guidebook. Wamihaspi is also called Blue Lake Peak, near Washington Pass. Quote
AlpineK Posted April 30, 2010 Posted April 30, 2010 Probably no chance of that. I quizzed my dad on that one. Apparently you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get a peak named. He said there was a long process people went through to get Mt. Spickard named what it is. Anything easily visible from a distance was named early on. Spickard benefited from being in a remote location. Quote
curtveld Posted April 30, 2010 Posted April 30, 2010 Wow, amazing life. Seems like he deserves a cascades peak named in his honor. Any chance the Mt. Watson up near Baker is named for him? I couldn't find a name history for it in Beckey or SlummitPost. Now that we have rehonored-but-not-renamed (M.L.) King County and (Ira) Spring Mountain, maybe it's easier than a complete redo? Quote
Lowell_Skoog Posted April 30, 2010 Author Posted April 30, 2010 Anything easily visible from a distance was named early on. Spickard benefited from being in a remote location. Plus there was already a mountain in the Cascades named Glacier Peak. Quote
Ducknut Posted May 4, 2010 Posted May 4, 2010 RIP Duke, thanks for your service and your love of wild places and wild things. Lowell as usual for a stellar job of reporting. Quote
billcoe Posted May 4, 2010 Posted May 4, 2010 Well crafted words Lowell! May we all have a run 1/2 as good as Dukes. regards to all Bill Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.