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Chester Marler - East of the Divide

Chester Marler graciously sent me a chapter from his unpublished manuscript, entitled In the Shadow of the North Cascades, in 2002. In 2005, he sent me a copy of his finished book. I've expanded my notes from the original manuscript to include a few items from the published book.

Chapter 5 - The Chelan and Sawtooth Ranges and North to the Pasayten Country

p. 89: The author describes a ski trip through the southern Sawtooth Range in April 1996 with a friend named Rob. They ascended Foggy Dew Creek from the Methow River and followed the range northward to Fish Creek Pass, descending into the Twisp River drainage. On p. 243, the author mentions another April ski trip through the northern Sawtooth Range. At the end of this trip his party descended the Purple Creek trail to Stehekin.

Chapter 6 - A Journey in 1870: A Grand Circle Through the Cascades

p. 108: The author includes an extended quote from Daniel C. Linsley's journal describing his introduction to glissading by Indians in the Cascades in 1870. Linsley's journal was published by Harry Majors in Northwest Discovery in April 1981.

Chapter 9 - Hard-Rock Miners of Phelps Creek

p. 163: The author discusses prospecting in the Phelps Creek area, including the efforts of Ed Lindston and Johan Smeds ("Red Mountain Ole").

Chapter 12 - On Skis and Snowshoes

p. 197: Skis Through the Pasayten - Dale K. Allen in the 1940s

Dale Allen grew up snowshoeing and trapping in the upper Lake Wenatchee country. In the 1930s through 1950s, he made extended winter ski trips in the Pasayten wilderness, often accompanied by Walt Anderson. These were probably the first long ski trips done in the Pasayten solely for recreation. As the author notes, trappers and miners had been snowshoeing and skiing in the North Cascades since the 1890s. Anderson was a career state game department official. Allen's career alternated between the game department and the U.S. Forest Service. Allen and Anderson skied the routes described below several times during their lives.

In February 1942, Allen and Anderson skied a route they called the "Pasayten trip." On the first day they skied up the Harts Pass road to a Forest Service cabin near the pass. They spent several days skiing basins in the area. Then they skied to Windy Pass and descended the West Fork Pasayten River to Three Forks Cabin, near the junction of the west and middle forks of the Pasayten. On February 6 they skied to the USFS Pasayten Guard Station, less than three miles from the Canadian border. The next morning they turned southeast, up the East Fork Pasayten River, past Hidden Lakes to the Ptarmigan Cabin near the confluence of Ptarmigan Creek and the Lost River. The next day they skied down Lost River to a campsite near Eigthmile Pass. Over the following day and a half they skied snow covered roads down Eightmile Creek to the town of Winthrop.

East of their Pasayten trip, Allen and Anderson made an equally long ski trek they called the "Ashnola." This trip began at the Eightmile ranch, the last residence up the Chewuck River and the end of the plowed road in the 1940s. They skied up the Chewuck to the Lake Creek forest camp for their first evening's camp. The next day they skied up Lake Creek and camped near Black Lake. On the third day they skied to Fawn Lake just below Ashnola Pass. The following day they skied down Spotted Creek and up Spanish Creek to a campsite east of Bald Mountain. They enjoyed telemarking in the rolling parkland in the area for a day or so. Their route then went northeast, through Cathedral Pass then east to the Tungsten Mine cabin. The continued the next day east along Bauerman Ridge and the following night made their last camp in a snow cave on the north side of Windy Peak. On their final day they skied all the way to the town of Loomis. Much of this trip was made in sub-zero Fahrenheit temperatures.

On p. 261, the author reflects upon the meaning Dale Allen found in his winter adventures. Allen told the author that he took these trips "for the simple pleasure of going, just being out in nature...there is the beauty of the country...just being out there...I'm not sure exactly what being in the mountains does to you, but it does something, and it's wonderful."

p. 208: The Pasayten Wilderness - Early April 1998

The author describes his own ski trip into the Pasayten with his friend Rob. From the end of the Eightmile Creek road (reached by snowmobile) they skied over Billy Goat Pass to a camp along Drake Creek. The next day they skied over Three Fools Pass into the Diamond Creek drainage and up Larch Creek to near Larch Pass. The following day they skied McCall Basin and traversed to Peeve Pass and Sheep Mountain, then descended the Boundary Trail to the Ashnola River. The next day they skied up Bald Mountain and descended to the Spanish Camp cabin. They spent a day skiing in the Spanish Camp area. Then they skied over Andrews Pass and down Andrews Creek to the Chewuck River road.

p. 222: The Lyman Lake Country

An account of a ski trip by the author and friends into the Lyman Lake area in April 1975. They stayed in the old survey cabin next to the lake, which was constructed in the early 1900s to monitor the snowpack for the hydroelectric dam on Lake Chelan. The cabin was destroyed by the Forest Service in the early 1980s after the installation of remote sensing equipment eliminated the need for it.

p. 227: In the Lee of Winter Storms: The Enchantment Basin

An account of a February 1964 snowshoe trip into the Enchantment Lakes Basin, approaching from Ingalls Creek via Crystal Creek. The party included Bill Prater and Bill Long.

p. 231: Traversing a Snow Engulfed Entiat and Chelan Mountains - April 1999

The author notes that the 1970s through early 1990s were a relatively warm and dry period in the Cascades. This began to change around 1996-97. The winter of 1998-99 brought the deepest snowpack in 40 years. With his friend Rob the author traveled by snowmobile up the Chiwawa and Minnow Creek road systems then skied up a broad ridge to the shoulder of Rampart Mountain. The next day they skied to Fifth of July Pass and descended to the Entiat River. They spent a day touring to Entiat Meadows and back. Then the following day they skied up Snow Brushy Creek over Milham Pass into Emerald Park. From there they descended to Domke Lake and Lake Chelan.

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