Spokane Mountaineers

Publication Year: 1966.

Spokane Mountaineers. Earlier success in 1960 prompted our return to the Tetons in 1965 for another summer outing. Fifty-eight people swarmed over standard routes and trails. The highlight of the outing was an ascent of Mount Moran by the C.M.C. route. Three visits to Whitewater Basin produced another first ascent in the Selkirks, Mount Dryden (9100 feet). We followed a rough A.C.C. trail up Mulvey Creek to the high Valhallas, but Gladsheim is still waiting. A reconnaissance near Mount Templeman excited exploring instincts. In the Cascades we broadened our horizons by loop tours and traverses. From a new highway in the North Cascades we found Mount Silver Star (8901 feet) easily accessible. Only an hour from the end of construction is Liberty Bell (A.A.J. 1951, p. 173). Shuksan in 1965 was an extended traverse via Sulphide Glacier, owing to the regular route’s being closed. Kaleetan became a real challenge for a one-day climb — up the Cascade Crest Trail to Snow Lake and back down Denny Creek. Mount Fernow (9249 feet) was the highest of three peaks reached from the lush Leroy Creek meadows. In the winter and spring we broadened instruction in ski mountaineering and ski touring. The year’s best ski tour started at Lookout Pass, proceeded through St. Regis Basin and over the top of Stevens Creek, finishing with a 10-mile descent to the backyards of Mullan, Idaho. No other member could top Terry Bech’s January tour. Leaving his Peace Corps home in Chainpur, Nepal, he trekked 300 miles through Namche Bazar to Kathmandu. Above Pangboche officials turned him away. As consolation for losing a closer view of Everest, he hurried to a 17,000- foot sub-peak of Taweche at his regular pace of 1000 feet per hour. Most of his three-week jaunt was with 50-pound pack, one Sherpa, and tennis shoes.

William C. Fix