Mountaineer

October, 2009 The

Volume 103, No. 10
The monthly publication of The Mountaineers

M4 Ma Nature’s value
as a public utility w w w. m o u n t a i n e e r s . o r g

M6 Grants help restore

flatland ecosystem

M7 NEW! Destinations:
Do you have a
favorite?

M2 View from the Top

M4 Conservation Currents

M4 Summit Savvy

M6 Passages

M7 Off the Shelf

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 Photo courtesy of Washington’s National Park Fund

www.mountaineers.org. For A viewing of ‘America’s Best Idea’—Thu., Oct. 1

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.
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.
Everest ‘leftovers’ find spot on artist’s plate
M
Are you ready to jump right in?
Visit www.mountaineers.org.
Need to call? 206-521-6000.
found there. But melting ice and
POSTAGE PAID AT
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.
ost people know that ice at weddings and banquets ”just
doesn’t melt atop Mt. Bells from Everest melt away.” So, he turned to wood
Everest and wood is not sculpting.
Spend an

evening with His work earned displays in several

SEATTLE, WA
PERIODICAL

wood are what led artist Jeff Clapp

artist Jeff exhibitions and galleries while he
to journey some 9,000 miles from
Clapp continued to work as a chef. “One
his home in Brunswick, Maine, to day someone gave me a CO2 tank
Thu., Oct. 15, 7 p.m., club headquarters
the base of Everest. Continued on M5

Upcoming
After spending 20 years as a chef
in the Northeast, he said he got
tired of watching his ice sculptures

Fill up with Nikwax—The Moun- Get in the climbing queue: As

taineers wants to show its appre- one climbing season ends, another
ciation to its members on Sun., is about to begin. Enrollment for
Oct. 4, by opening the spout on next year’s climbing courses is just
hundreds of gallons of Nikwax. See around the corner, starting with the
pg. 1 of the Go Guide for details. Seattle Branch program. See pg. 9
✔ of the Go Guide.
Climb Si for climate action! Oct. ✔
7700 Sand Point Way N.E.

24 will be International Climate Eric Simonson to visit Tacoma:

Action day and two Mountaineers The Tacoma Branch will host one
Seattle, WA 98115
The Mountaineers

climbers are inviting everyone to of the biggest names in climbing

join them for an awareness event when it holds its Annual Banquet
at Mt. Si. See M4 for details on on Oct. 17. See pg. 13 of the Go
Jeff Clapp puts another Everest how to participate. Guide for details.
cylinder to lathe.
October 2009 The Mountaineer
The

Mountaineer
Also see us on the web at www.mountaineers.org
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
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
Managing Editor
Brad Stracener
Contributors, proofreaders:
Barb Butler, Brian Futch, James Hamp-
ton, 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
Volume 103, No. 10
The Mountaineer (ISSN 0027-2620)
is published monthly by The Moun-
taineers, 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 Seat-
tle, 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 nec-
essarily represent the views of The
Mountaineers.
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.
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 west_mona@yahoo.com with your questions
or comments.

View from the Top

October a pivotal month for Mountaineers
O
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 re-
turn, 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
— We successfully created and
moved into North America’s
foremost mountaineering center,
complete with facilities to teach
all aspects of the alpine environ-
ment (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 cen-
tury—growing in a sustainable
and sound fashion.
— We’ve successfully launched
several entry-level mountaineer-
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!

2010 Mountaineers Ballot

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:
ing programs (namely Junior
Mountaineers and Trailhead),
driven by of our program devel-
opment initiatives.
— Our Legacy Society for
planned giving was established.
— Mountaineers Books has
continued to evolve and thrive,
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 bal-
lot will be used to verify and validate votes.)

In next month’s Mountaineer: John Ohlson

– Profiles of service—volunteers who go the extra mile
– Dosewallips update Mark Scheffer

Matt Sullivan
How far will you go this year?
Mona West

The
Candidates’ statements and profiles can be found on pg. 2 of
Mountaineers
www.mountaineers.org
the Go Guide. Please read them before voting.

M
The Mountaineer
Northwest Environmental Issues Course—South Sound—to start Oct. 1
Protection of the Northwest’s natu-
ral resources requires knowledge
of terrain—politically and physi-
cally. The Mountaineers Northwest
Environmental Issues Course
provides the former, equipping
advocates with the necessary tools
and awareness to lobby for preser-
vation 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 Environmen-
tal 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 co-
alition will announce the identified
October 009
legislative focus in October. Mountaineers Foundation and the
The course runs from Oct. 21 University of Puget Sound.
to Nov. 18. Lectures will be held For more information, contact
Wednesday evenings from 6:30 Katharine Appleyard, Sound Policy
to 8:30 p.m. at the University of Institute at the University of Puget
Puget Sound, Collins Memorial Sound, 253-879-3716, kapple-
Library, Room 303. The course can yard@pugetsound.edu, or Nancy
be offered free to all participants Neyenhouse, 253.848.9448,
through generous grants from The neyen82@hotmail.com.
Don’t forget to vote!
Log on to www.mountaineers.org to cast your elec-
tronic vote for The Mountaineers Board of Trustees
(see candidate profiles on pg. 2 of the Go Guide). If
you are without access to the internet, cut out the bal-
lot on M2. You have until 5 p.m. Wed., Oct. 21!
M3
October 2009
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 Moun-
taineers 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.
conservation
CURRENTS
Imagine your invoice if Mother
Nature charged for her services
H
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. In-
deed, 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 pro-
vide 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 sav-
ings 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 cre-
ate 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 direc-
tor of Earth Economics, a non-profit
organization in Seattle.
B 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.
M
■ 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 Moun-
taineers Bookstore.
■ No one identified last month’s
mystery summit, Mt. Dana, as photo-
graphed by Curtis Baxstrom.
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 inter-
est 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 decision-
making.”
T
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 seques-
tration). 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
Summit Savvy
valuation to date.
Titled “A New View of the Puget
Sound Economy,” the study de-
duces 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), recov-
ery aid to farms and businesses,
and so on.
As the study notes in its executive
summary, “What is at stake is noth-
ing less than our economic pros-
perity 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,
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 ur-
gency 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.
How far will you go this year?
The Mountaineer
cars, roads, buildings and other
elements of ‘built capital’ every
year, most of our natural systems
are deteriorating . . . These natu-
ral systems are valuable and vital
economic assets.”
T he study asserts, “True eco-
nomics 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, hospi-
table climate regulation, aesthetic
beauty, and protection from flood
and storm.”
For more about Earth Econom-
ics and its study, visit the website,
www.eartheconomics.org.
Brad Stracener is managing editor
of The Mountaineer.
Carpooling will be highly encour-
aged 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,
sunny9@u.washington.edu, 206-
354-8518, or Kustcha, 206-276-
3683, Eileen_kutscha@yahoo.
com, by Tue., Oct. 20.
The
Mountaineers
www.mountaineers.org
The Mountaineer
Guide comes to rescue of Clapp and bells
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.”
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 restau-
rant 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 peo-
ple alive on their way to the world’s
highest peak could be given a new,
extended life.
Though it was a nifty scheme to Trekking the Khumbu.
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 Raw-
son, 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 oxy-
gen 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 nos-
talgic for him if not life changing.
“Jeff is a unique individual
with fantastic ideas”
– 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 pro-
clivity for travel an entirely different affair.
October 2009
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 travel-
ing 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 com-
pany 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 Ever-
est project snowballed once it be-
came 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 Ameri-
Bells and bowls—finished product. can Alpine Club’s publication.
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-de-
feating, 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.
M
October 2009
Volunteers tackle flatland restoration via foundation grants
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 support-
ing 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 popula-
tion of beavers that are once again

T he day began with an overview damming streams to provide habi-

of the areas in which ONDA tat for waterfowl and a host of other
Volunteers pulled nearly 10 miles of barbed wire from north-central Oregon. is currently active with their large animals.

Editor’s note: Following is a

firsthand account by Nancy Ney-
enhouse of work on the ground
accomplished by recipients of grant
money from The Mountaineers
Foundation. Neyenhouse, a Moun-
taineers 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 vis-
ited the Oregon Natural Desert As-
sociation (ONDA), headquartered
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
W 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.

B
eing a member of the
foundation’s Commu-
nity Grants Committee has
great perks. Not only do I have
the opportunity to actively support
great community environmental
in Bend, Oregon. Jefferson Jacobs,
ONDA outreach director, spent
the day with us, taking us to sites
where ONDA is actively remov-
ing barbed wire from former ranch
lands now set aside as wilderness,
refuge, or conservation areas and
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.
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.

Passages
Diane Altwein, a 40-year member of The Mountaineers, began her
final journey to the mountains of the great beyond on Aug. 13, 2009. Dur-
ing 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

BANFF RETURNS TO WASHINGTON!

the Forest Theater.
She was a longtime member of the Library Committee and skilled in car-
pentry. 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 trans-
porting equipment to the worksite on pack animals. She also rounded up
trail-work volunteers, including a cook for the trail crews. Some of her ef-
forts 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 pur-
sue a career in chemistry with the Washington State Department of Health
as well as the Food and Drug Administration.
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 October 2009

Destinations
cast for a week is essential.
You should time your travel to work with the low tides. My preference would be low

Olympic National Park Coast tides in the middle of the day, so that I can backpack all day long. On this trip, I had
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
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
historic artifacts uncovered from the Ozette Indian village buried 500 years ago in a
mudslide. I passed the archeological dig near Cape Alava on my hike.
My preference is to backpack from south to north (Oil City to Neah Bay) to avoid
the Makah tribal recreation fee ($10) and overnight parking fee ($10 per day). The

Brad Stracener photo

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.
• Clallam Transit operates a large bus on Route 16 from Forks Transit Center to
Editor’s note: Craig Miller, an outings leader for The Mountaineers, hiked the wil- Neah Bay every day except Sunday for 75 cents:
derness of Washington’s Olympic Coast late this summer—a trek that took him 60 http://www.clallamtransit.com/route-16-timetable.html.
miles from Neah Bay to Oil City. In the spirit of inspiring and informing other Moun- • Jefferson Transit operates a small bus on Route 15 from Forks Transit Center to
taineers wishing to enjoy the splendors of our state’s wilderness, The Mountaineer
La Push (they dropped me at the Third Beach trailhead) every day except Sunday
features his trip, including advice and essential information, in the debut of a new
for 75 cents:
column, “Destinations.”
http://www.clallamtransit.com/route-15-timetable.html.

T his narrow strip of coast is between two dramatically different

worlds – the ocean and the forest. Highlights include the amaz-
ing intertidal zone (new for me were gooseneck barnacles), scenery
• Jefferson Transit operates a small bus from Forks to just north of Oil City to
US-101 intersection (called Upper Hoh Road on their schedule) every day except
Sunday for 25 cents:
(sea stacks and crashing waves), and tides.
http://www.jeffersontransit.com/schedules/westjeff.html.
On my seven-day trip in August, I experienced the lowest and highest tides of the

Share your favorite destination with us

month. I prefer sleeping on the sand beaches, but at the highest tides of the month,
I instead camped above the beach and in the trees.
My campsites this trip were:
Send an e-mail to brads@mountaineers.org
– Seafield Creek (this was a challenge the first afternoon with incoming tides
or call 206-521-6013
around Point of the Arches)
– Sand Point

Don’t forget to vote!

– Norwegian Memorial
– Between Chilean Memorial and Hole-in-the-Wall
– Scott Creek
– Mosquito Creek Log on to www.mountaineers.org to cast your elec-
How to go about it
tronic vote for The Mountaineers Board of Trustees
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 internal- (see candidate profiles on pg. 2 of the Go Guide). If
frame pack rather than an external-frame pack.
you are without access to the internet, cut out the bal-
When you get the required permit for trips of at least a week, I suggest asking the
ranger for a lightweight Kevlar food canister, rather than the traditional plastic food lot on M2. You have until 5 p.m. Wed., Oct. 21!
canister made by Garcia.
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 /
Ahunt@ft.newyorklife.com

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October 2009 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 dedi-
cated 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 Scott Marlow photo

Hide-n-go-seek
of a true legend - Harvey Manning.

TAnhe LasT PoLar Bear

evening with Steven Kazlowski
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.
Thursday, November 12 at 7 pm
The Mountaineers, 7700 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle

& limbs
Alaska Yukon Pacific Exposition in

Branches
Tickets: $8 Mountaineers, $10 General. Available
through the Mountaineers Bookstore. Seattle, is currently being present-

P 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 Ka-
ed at various King County venues.
Vic McDaniel and Ray Francisco,
zlowski brings this critical issue to life with his unparalleled
imagery. Join us for a presentation of this magnificent fresh high school graduates, set
animal in its natural - and endangered - habitat.
out on their second-hand bicycles
from Santa Rosa in August of
Secrets of SHANGRI-LA 1909 to take on the challenge of
With renowned mountaineer Pete Athans
cycling from their home to the expo
Friday, November 13 at 7 pm
The Mountaineers, 7700 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle (AYPE). They pedaled, pushed
Tickets: $10 Mountaineers, $15 General. Available through the and walked 1,000 miles of primitive
Mountaineers Bookstore.
Cyclers’ story takes stage roads for 54 days and encountered
T ravel to the high Himalayan kingdom of Mustang with Pete
Athans as his journey leads him to a surprising find - a An on-stage reading performance, nearly every imaginable natural,
treasure trove of ancient Buddhist texts and images. Learn how
based on a book about two young mechanical and human challenge
he later traveled back with a multidisciplinary team to document,
study and begin to preserve this amazing find. bicyclers, who, in 1909 pedaled on their one-speed bikes.
from their home in California to the While adventure was their primary
lure, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer
promised that a purse of $25 would

Yoga Retreats await them if they made it to the

AYPE before its final day.

Yoga •Hiking
• Hiking ••Culture
Culture ••Swimming
Swimming • •Sunshine
Sunshine
In recognition of the AYPE centen-
•Yoga nial, Book-It Repertory Theatre and
4Culture’s Heritage and Site-Spe-
cific 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
Lake Atitlan, Guatemala Roy Holman
Roy Holman
about tickets and venue locations.

Costa Rica -Cedar

Washington: Nov.Springs
28-Dec. - 7, 2008 19-21, 2007
October
Washington:
$1,195 Methow
– Shared
$295 includes Valley
room,meals,
all organic Retreat,
Includes Oct.
9 nights
classes, 2-4,
double 2009
room
$350 – Includes two nights shared lodging, organic
hotel, most meals, classes, ground transport
meals,Rica
Costa classes,November
hikes, and
23other activities
(Or: $1,995- includes RT – Dec
air from1, 2007 - Roy H & Christine Borys
Seattle)
$1,195 Shared room, Includes 8 nights hotel, most meals, classes, ground
Mexico: Yelapa
transport - Jan 22-30,
(Or: $1,895 includes2010
Mexico: Yelapa - Jan. 16-24, 2009
RT air from Seattle)
$1,195 – Includes 8 nights hotel, most meals, classes, ground transport
$1,195
Mexico: –Yelapa
Includes - 8January
nights 18-26,
hotel, 2008
most meals, classes, ground
(Or: $1,750 includes RT air from Seattle) - Roy H & Linda Lapping
transport (Or:Includes
$1,195 shared: $1,7958includes RT air
nights hotel, mostfrom Seattle)
meals, classes, Mexico ground
transport (Or: $1,695 includes RT air from Seattle)
Guatemala: Lake Atitlan – Feb. 18-28, 2010
Guatemala: Lake
$1,395 – 11Lake
nightsAtitlan
hotel, – Feb.
most 26-March
meals, classes, 9, 2009transport ($2,150
ground A new way to pay!
Guatemala:
$1,295 – RT
11 air Atitlan
nights -
hotel,Febmost meals, classes,H ground
14-25, 2008 - Roy & Kara Keating
transport
includesshared:
$1,295 from
11 Seattle)
nights Hotel, Most Meals, Classes, Ground transport Members can take a bite out of
($1,995 includes RT air from Seattle)
($1,895 includes RT air from Seattle) their dues payment by enrolling in
our monthly dues program. Each
month, you pay 1/12th of your
Roy is a Mountaineer member, hike leader, yoga and meditation teacher, minister, and
dues rate. That’s a little over $6 a
reflexologist. Classes & Workshops in the Everett area. Weddings officiated too!
month for most members!
Get started today by visiting the
Contact for more info: Roy Holman 425-303-8150, webpage below.
www.holmanhealthconnections.com Yoga For Every Body www.mountaineers.org/autopay.html

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