Alpenglow Ski Mountaineering History Project Home

Dwight Watson - Mountain Scrapbook
UWSpecColl, Accession 2170-004
* Lowell Skoog has a copy of each page or account marked with an asterisk.

These notes are keyed to the page numbers in Watson's notebooks, when possible. I have changed all references from Sam Eskenazi to Ralph Eskenazi, following my conversation with Ralph on 23 March 2001. (Ralph changed his name, but many old friends such as Watson continued to call him Sam.) In a manila folder there is an obituary for Dwight Alvin Watson (born 12/22/1900, died 2/29/1996) written by Gino Picini in March 1996. There is also a color photo of Watson in later years.

Following my review of Watson's mountain scrapbook (large orange-bound book) I reviewed his brown book labeled "Mountain Rambles." This seems to be the "Readers' Digest condensed" version of the scrapbook, containing most, but not all, of his significant accounts but missing all the auxiliary materials (i.e. the atmosphere and context). I believe that the orange scrapbook is the definitive source. Note however that the mountain rambles book contains captions beginning on p. 311 for many photos in Watson's collection. These should be consulted when reviewing his photos, which are also held by UW Special Collections.

The following notes apply to Watson's orange-bound mountain scrapbook. I have described some auxiliary entries to provide a feel for the scrapbook, which is a remarkable collection.

In one of the early pages Watson has written this: "This book is not one of adoration of the mountains but of thanks and praise to Him who made all and does all things well: Jehovah-God, and his Christ."

At the bottom of the same page, Watson has entered, "It would be careless neglect to overlook the magnificent contributions the Mountaineers of Seattle have made in their explorations and loving care of our beautiful natural resources in Mountains and lakes and forests and wildlife. Their early outings were pioneering and recording. Their loving philosophy in their 'Creed' did much to encourage ecological care in spite of pressures of the industries and the sports. Perhaps YET there will be spared sufficient trees and true wilderness that future generations will bless and say thanks."

Another page dated 3/93 and entitled "The Trail to Life" begins: "A trail that Mountaineers and other outdoor enthusiasts seem to have overlooked is the Way to Glory (direct route), the Lord Jesus Christ!"

Index A-D *

Watson has inserted four typed index pages listing trips, scrapbook stories and dates. They are labeled (with my designation in parentheses):

"Pioneer Trips" (Index A)
"Some Ramble Dates" (Index B)
"Outdoor Stories - Listed" (Index C)
"Some Trips and Dates, 1937-1940" (Index D)
I reviewed the indexes for significant trips and/or dates not found elsewhere in the scrapbook: Note that in Index A, there is an entry about a pioneering trip to Mt St Helens with Sig Hall in 1927. This must be a typo. An entry on Index D puts the date at June 5, 1938.

The Eldorado Question

Before reviewing this scrapbook, the only references I'd found for Dwight Watson's ski trips in the Eldorado region were mtneer-a-1937-p28 and beckey-1977-p38. Neither reference describes trips that I believe reached Eldorado Peak from Sibley Pass. (This was the likely approach for all Watson's ski trips, since the Cascade River road ended at Sibley Creek in 1940, according to beckey-1977-p33.)

Index D lists four trips to the Eldorado area:

1937, May
1938, April 30-May 1
1938, May 15
1940, May 18

On p. 303 of the scrapbook is a draft of the 1937 Mountaineer Annual article, which doesn't add much information. The published article records the date of the Hoffman-Watson trip as May 1, 1937, which matches the first Eldorado entry in Index D.

Assuming that the account in beckey-1977-p33 is accurate, then the unsuccessful Anderson-Beckey-Watson trip would have occurred in April or May, 1940. This matches the May 18, 1940 trip in Index D.

The article beginning on p. 433 includes an account of an April 30-May 1 ski trip, which also did not reach the peak. This could match the second entry in Index D, in 1938.

The p. 433 article contains a second account of an Eldorado trip. Unlike all the other accounts, this one states explicitly that Eldorado Peak was the goal and it describes crossing terrain that matches the traverse from Sibley Pass to the Inspiration Glacier. The context of this account, and the way it is introduced, suggests that this trip occurred after the previous one in the article. My conclusion is that the May 15, 1938 trip was most likely the successful trip to Eldorado Peak described in this account. This would be fully consistent with Beckey's statement in beckey-1977-p33 that Watson was "first to ski Eldorado snows, and though he had since tracked many other remote slopes he was anxious to return."

Thus I conclude that the first skiing on Eldorado Peak occurred on May 15, 1938 (a Sunday). Watson's account is vague as to where the skiers turned around. However, his 16mm movie of the trip suggests that the party's high point was a spot on the ridge between The Triad and Eldorado Peak. The movie (and Watson's photo collection) show skiers on or near the Eldorado Glacier, but never as far east as the Inspiration Glacier, the only possible route for a ski ascent. Thus I believe that Watson did not make a ski ascent of Eldorado Peak. He did scout the approach on skis from Sibley Pass, a notable achievement. (This approach is problematic on skis and has never become popular.) There is no record of who was in the 1938 party of four, but based on Watson's movie, I believe that Sigurd Hall was one of them.

Further evidence that Watson's ski trips did not reach Eldorado's summit is in the December 1939 Mountaineer Bulletin (mtneer-b-1939-dec). Since the members of the 1939 party were all friends of Dwight Watson (Hoffman and Larson had been on some of the Eldorado ski trips), it seems certain that they would have known of earlier ascents by ski parties in the area.

Miscellany

A page following the indexes has a cartoon of Sherlock Holmes. This and the following pages have a number of newspaper and magazine clippings pasted on them, including:

Watson's Slump Leaves
Watson corrects flaw
Watson Finds Clue
Watson, I've Found It!
Watson shows lost skills
Watson Headed for UW
Watson is feeling in tune
Watson hangs on
President Reagan should read Watson
Watson's parting shot
Watson comes back
Watson looks forward
Watson has returned
Watson doesn't mind flak
Mountain Visions
Grown in Washington
See mother nature before they pave it!
This is followed by many pages of poems and passages with a nature or religious theme. I haven't tried to capture them. Watson's accounts of his mountain rambles begin around page 61. I've recorded notes for the most significant entries.

p. 63: "An Early Ramble (Spray Park via Electron Flume)"

Described as one of his first mountain rambles, this was a trip (on foot) with Joe Greenleaf, a friend from high school days, and another person up the Puyallup River valley via the Electron Flume, then hiking to Mowich Lake and Spray Park. Watson worked for Puget Sound Power and Light Co., which stimulated his interest in this area.

p. 65: Photo of Watson and Joe Greenleaf at the Electron Power House flume (operating a railway hand car), Puyallup River, Mt Rainier, August 1923.

p. 73: The map on this page mentions two spring ski trips on the west side of Rainier and shows the approximate route of each.

One starts at Mowich Lake, goes through Knapsack Pass, and crosses Spray Park to the Flett Glacier at which point it leaves the map.

The other is labeled as a one-day spring ski trip and is drawn climbing from the Wonderland trail at the Puyallup River up the south side of the Colonnade ridge and passing north of pt. 6670, then going south to Tokaloo Spire and returning via Klapatchie Park. There is a legend at the top of the page for a "Colonnade-St. Andrews ski route", which seems to apply to this trip.

p. 77: "Y's Crax: From the 'Y' Bunch on Mt. Rainier"

Account of Watson's first climb of Rainier (in a YMCA group) by the Gibraltar route on July 29, 1924, guided by "Flop" Hessemer. A climb of Pinnacle Peak and a trip to the Paradise ice caves is also described.

p. 93: Photo of the 1924 Rainier climbing party at Register Rock.

p. 97: The map on this page has a line drawn for a "Colonnade-Klapatchie ski", crossing the Puyallup glacier to Puyallup Cleaver at about 8900 ft, then running off the west edge of the map.

p. 98: A map on this page has a line drawn for "Ski tour in Tatoosh". From Reflection Lakes, the route climbs to the saddle west of Pinnacle Peak and follows the divide to the west (S of Plummer, then N of the divide) to the saddle SE of Eagle Peak. A ski tour to Pinnacle-Castle saddle is also marked.

p. 100: A photocopy picture of Rainier shows the line of a ski attempt to 12,000 ft on the Emmons Glacier.

p. 101: A map on this page shows the route of a ski trip to Old Desolate (between the Carbon and Winthrop Glaciers). The route seems to follow the east edge of the Carbon Glacier, then climbs the objective peak from the north.

Also marked is a spring ski trip to Echo and Observation Rocks beginning at the Glacier Cabin below the Carbon Glacier and ascending through Seattle Park to the destination peaks.

The route of the Emmons Glacier ski attempt is also shown (the normal route from Glacier Basin).

The primary purpose of this map, however, is to show the route of a Swanson-Simmons-Watson ramble (on foot) to Windy Gap and Mystic Lake via the Elysian Fields during Labor Day 1925.

p. 105: On this page there begin accounts of summer rambles (not on skis) by Watson in Garibaldi Park in 1932 and 1943. Helpful to bracket his ski rambles. I've found no mention of skiing by him up through 1932. Watson seems to have liked the Garibaldi area. He entitled his account on p. 113 "There is Another 'Happy Land'", a reference to the account of his 1928 ramble at Mt Rainier described on p. 149. Watson notes that Mt Rainier vies with the Alps of Switzerland in beauty, but is "lacking one feature--a host of high peaks crowding in on one another." It seems that he found this at Garibaldi in 1932.

On p. 125, Watson mentions the possibilities of skiing in the Garibaldi area (this account was written in 1943): "Some ski enthusiasts HAVE climbed in the park in spring for several days of WONDERFUL skiing--for skiing Paradise it IS but probably [will] be never popular when so much labor getting there is involved. The steep sloped runs from the Tusk would be thrilling to say the least while the views would be beyond comprehension!! And the glaciers near Garibaldi peak as well as south of Helm Lake-Helm Glacier as an example had splendid spring snow in mid-August for those die-hards who must ski every month in the year to keep in condition! Perhaps the popular advent of the helicopter after the war will solve the whole problem--or will it?"

p. 148: Fine photo of Watson in summer 1928, hands on hips, probably in front of one of the buildings at Paradise. Also on this page is a photo of Prof. Malcolm Brode.

p. 149: "There is a Happy Land"

Account of an August 1928 ramble (on foot) with Malcolm Brode in Mt Rainier National Park. The two drove through Enumclaw and hiked to Grand Park from Glacier Basin. They returned to Enumclaw, mailed off their exposed photographic plates, then continued west and south to Longmire. They hiked to Indian Henry's and St Andrews park. They eventually returned to Longmire, drove to Paradise and joined a party guided by John Day to make Watson's second ascent of Rainier, again by the Gibraltar route.

p. 165: "Carbon River Trip to Spray Park"

Account of a ramble by Watson and Malcolm Brode (on foot) in August 1929.

p. 173: "Official S-B Ramble (Summer)"

Account of a large group outing to Yakima Park and the Sunrise area on Memorial Day 1929 (not a ski trip). It seems likely that the S-B Club was a church organization with which Watson was affiliated, but I never noticed an explicit description of it.

p. 177: "Official S-B Ramble (Officers' Jambouree)"

An outing (on foot) on August 7, 1929 to Indian Henry's Hunting Ground.

p. 183: "Official S-B Ramble, 4th of July 1929"

A horse trip to Grand Park on Mt Rainier.

p. 197: "Big Labor Day Ramble, 1929"

Account of a horse trip to the Cowlitz Pass and Tumac Mountain areas.

p. 207: "Glacier Park, Montana and Canadian Rockies"

Account of a trip to Glacier Park in Montana in late June 1934. The account notes that the Mountaineers had planned their annual outing for the area later in the summer (too late, thought Watson) but he had not contemplated joining them. His trip was launched when his boss asked him to go to Montana "to install equipment at Shelby."

p. 211: "A Belated Ramble (Sierra Trip)"

Describes a trip by Watson to see an old friend (Carl, no last name given) in Los Angeles in Aug-Sep 1935. Carl was apparently a fellow S-B club member, and the two made what they called an unofficial S-B Club ramble into the Sierras.

p. 226a: A newspaper article, dated 12/5/55 by Byron Fish, describes the contributions of A. H. Sylvester, former supervisor of Wenatchee National Forest, in bestowing an estimated 3,000 place names in Washington. The article says that Watson, who met Sylvester, was responsible for local knowledge of the forester's role.

p. 228: Aerial photo of the Bailey Range, showing the route of Watson's 1936 traverse (June 24-July). The caption describes the route as going from Olympic Hot Springs to Oyster Lake, across the head of Sol Duc Valley, around Cat Peak (west), Mt Carrie, Mt Ferry, Cream Lake, Bear Pass, Dodwell Rixon Pass, Marion Gorge, Elwha Basin, Low Divide, then north down the length of the Elwha River trail to the road.

p. 229: "Olympic Mountains - East Side Trip" *

This account describes a horse trip to the eastern Olympic Mountains in July 1935. At the end of the account (bottom of page 230) is pasted a note of "Some Ski Rambles" describing a ski trip starting from Olympic Hot Springs. Watson probably pasted the note here to link the ski trip somehow to the horse trip.

The second paragraph of the account on p. 231 describes the ski trip in more detail. In May, Watson and John Bissell made their way from Olympic Hot Springs to the Soleduck-Boulder Creek divide, then followed the head of Soleduck basin on skis to "an interesting snow dome" which Watson suggested calling "Sol Duc Peak". After snoozing and sunbathing, they made their way back toward Appleton Peak, skied down to the trail, and hiked back to the hot springs. This ski trip inspired Watson's Bailey Range traverse in summer 1936. (If it occurred in 1935, the ski trip with Bissell would be the earliest reference to skiing by Watson that I've found in this scrapbook. It seems more likely to me that it was in May 1936, after his winter sojourn at Paradise.) This note is a copy of a note on p. 260a (which describes other trips as well).

p. 231: "The Olympic Reconnaisance (Bailey Range route)" *

Watson's Bailey Range trip was made solo over about two weeks, leaving Seattle on June 24, 1936. He had originally planned to go with Wally Giddings and possibly another companion, but they dropped out at the last minute. Interestingly, Watson set out on this trip carrying "skis of the short summer variety." He may have used them a little approaching the Soleduck-Boulder divide but he found the snow hard and the cover sketchy. "Everything looked so different this year," he wrote. On the divide northwest of Cat Peak, he left the skis, saving and packing the bindings, then continued on foot. He followed the now accepted route across the SW flank of Mt Carrie to Cream Lake basin and continued along the Bailey Crest to Bear Pass. He descended into the Elwha River from Dodwell-Rixon pass and, after spending a few days in the rain at the Low Divide, hiked out the Elwha back to civilization.

p. 235: "An Olympic Wilderness Exploration" *

Also titled "The 'Ptarmigan Traverse' of the Olympics," this account of Watson's 1936 Bailey Range trip was written in October 1958. A hand-written note on p. 243 indicates that this was the same route taken by Herb Crisler solo between August 17 and September 17, 1930. Watson was not aware of Crisler's trip at the time of his 1936 traverse. He and Malcolm Brode had wanted to do this trip in 1929, but they were dissuaded by Asahel Curtis, who said it was impossible. This later account is more detailed and readable than the original. Watson mentions leaving his skis, but says that later in the trip (between Mt Ferry and Bear Pass) he regretted not taking them along. A quote:

"Some time later the now famous Herb Crisler, of Olympic photo fame and now with Walt Disney Enterprises, mentioned to me at a Mountaineer Club room get-together, that he found some skis over in the Olympics left by some crazy skier over in the Bailey range country. 'That's me' I acknowledged!"
Watson wrote of the Bear Pass area, "There are some wonderful sloping ski fields here to the north and west."

p. 257: "Miscellaneous Ramblings"

Describes a winter ascent of Mt Hood, using skis part of the way, with Ray Atkeson and wife in December, circa 1936.

p. 259: A latter day reminiscence on this page describes a snowshoe trip on Washington's Birthday, 1926, with Joe Greenleaf to Indian Henry's Hunting Ground on Mt Rainier. The two had an unplanned bivouac and in the morning were passed by some skiers who had gone in the day before. Watson writes: "They took off their skis and put on snowshoes! There was probably fifteen inches fresh snow. THAT unsold me on skiing for a long time. I ought to have known better, since following them out, our shoes balled up with sticky snow. We had to take them off and beat out the snow, go ahead and perform this many times until down to the wet snow line where it was more comfortable travelling." This entry suggests that Watson did not begin skiing until at least the late 1920s. From the entries on p. 230-231 we know that Watson was doing adventurous ski trips by 1935.

p. 260: Walt Dyke was a cousin of Ray Atkeson who had been doing cosmic ray studies at the University of Washington. Watson did some ski trips with Dyke with the goal of placing cosmic ray detector plates high on Rainier and Adams. This seems to be the meaning of the "cosmic ski" entries scattered throughout the scrapbook.

p. 260a: "Some Ski Rambles" *

The northern Bailey account on p. 230 is copied from this note. Watson must have pasted the copy on p. 230 to place it at the correct point in his chronology. The note also has a description of the Mt Baker ski traverse with Hennig and the Glacier Pk ski ascent with Sig Hall. There is no information here that isn't in the longer accounts, but this one is more concise and readable.

p. 263: "The Winter Sojourn at Paradise, Feb/Apr 1936" *

From mid-February through mid-April 1936 Watson was invited by the Rainier National Park Company to stay a Paradise and take winter photos for them. He describes busy weekends, as many skiers came up for contests or trips. During the week he did tours alone or with others. He writes that the ski hill was illuminated every night, offering practice if one so desired. He writes, "Best of all was the nights of wonderful powder snow with thrills a plenty as one thundered down the hills at express train speed."

p. 265: "North Central Cascades, Glacier Peak: The White Pass Trip" *

Starting from Garland Hot Springs on the North Fork Skykomish River on Sept 27, 1936, Watson hiked to the Cady Pass area, where he met a crew led by Harland Eastwood working on the Crest Trail. He hiked north to White Pass and admired the area, noting that "the Whitechuck basin looked ideal for skiing." He returned to Indian Pass and continued south along the Cascade crest to the Stevens Pass road. After catching a ride to Scenic he hiked up Surprise Creek to the Surprise Mountain area, admiring the view of Mt Daniel to the south. Finally he hiked out, caught a truck to Skykomish and rode the train back home. Watson acknowledges the name applied later by Fred Beckey for the area around Tenpeak Mtn (Dakobed Range), but at the time of his rambles, he called them the "Delectable Mountains."

p. 269: A photo of Glacier Peak from Image Lake shows the route of the 1938 ski ascent on the right skyline.

p. 281: "The Cascade Mountain Wonderland (Washington's Best)" *

This is an account of a remarkable summer of wandering by Watson in the heart of the North Cascades, from July to September, 1936, which was a historic year in the range, as his account relates. The weather that summer was exceptionally fine. Watson's adventures began with a traverse of the Hanging Gardens with Hermann Ulrichs. He then made a solo venture to Rimrock Ridge, hiked to Buck Pass, spent time in the Lyman Lake region, journeyed to Stehekin and rambled around Washington and Rainy Passes. He also hiked to Cascade Pass and traveled over Park Creek Pass and down Thunder Creek to Diablo. It is clear that this pilgrimage was the foundation of his relationship with the North Cascades and inspired many of the ski mountaineering trips he made in the following years.

The trip to the Hanging Gardens area between Image Lake and Dome Peak was Watson's idea. Hermann Ulrichs was living in Los Angeles at the time, and he came up with Art Johnson to join Watson on this trip. In late July, using packhorses, they traveled from Sulphur Creek to Miners Ridge and Image Lake. This was their basecamp for rambles in the vicinity. Then they traversed to Canyon Lake and made the first ascent of Bannock Mtn. Johnson injured his leg on the descent and did no further climbing. Leaving Canyon Lake at 6 am, Watson and Ulrichs crossed Totem Pass and traversed the Hanging Gardens. They climbed to the divide east of Sinister Peak, where they had views of the Chickamin Glacier, Gunsight Peak and Agnes Mtn. Then they returned to their Canyon Lake camp around 6 pm. The next day they backpacked to their basecamp at Image Lake. Since his leg was still injured, Johnson decided to hike out to Sulphur Creek. Ulrichs chose to linger in the vicinity for a few days, then hike out as well. Since they had a couple weeks of food left, and he had "fallen in love with 'Agnes' country" Watson gathered supplies and set out for more exploring on his own.

He hiked down Agnes Creek to the west fork. Then on August 1 he scrambled up Rimrock Ridge, hoping to traverse to the Le Conte glacier area. He admired the scenery but didn't reach the glacier or climb any summits. He returned to his camp in the west fork, and the next day wandered upstream where he found a sweater, on which he left a note. The sweater turned out to belong to Erick Larson or George Freed, who made the first ascent of Dome Peak on August 1. Watson then returned to basecamp at Image Lake (19 miles). Johnson had hiked out as planned, but Ulrichs had a sudden inspiration and had left to make a solo first ascent of the Chocolate Glacier on Glacier Peak.

Watson packed up and moved camp (with the help of horses and packer) to Lyman Lake, where he met Hugh Courtney, who was looking for Everett Darr and Ida Zacker of Portland, who were late returning from an unsuccessful attempt of the first ascent of Bonanza Peak. (They succeeded on the first ascent of Martin Peak.) He met another group from Portland that was following the route taken by Mary Roberts Rinehart years before (Railroad Creek, Cloudy Pass, Agnes Creek, Stehekin River, Cascade Pass). There were a number of visitors to the Lyman Lake area (most or all traveling with horses) during Watson's stay there.

Watson hiked to Buck Pass, through the buggy Flower Dome country, of which he wrote, "Ashes to ashes and dust to dust. If the horseflies don't get you, the mosquitoes must!" Of the mountains between Clark and Tenpeak, he wrote, "A good name for the range would be the Delectable Mountains for when viewed especially from the north the title is appropriate." And finally, of the Honeycomb Glacier area he wrote, "This region might be named Ski-Heaven for the Whitechuck basin, White Pass, and this glacier region is one ideal arrangement of snow slope and variety to thrill any enthusiast." Watson returned to the Lyman Lake area and spent several days there, visiting the Power Company cabin, walking to Spider Gap for a view into Phelps Creek, exploring the Lyman Glacier, and scrambling up North Star Mountain. Finally, he left with a packer for Lake Chelan.

He journeyed by boat to Stehekin, where he made a number of friends. Traveling up valley to Bridge Creek, he wrote, "Ray Lowrie who drove the truck proved to be a grand friend and quite a skier too so that was the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Hiking up Bridge Creek, he rambled around Washington and Rainy Passes, going as far north as Porcupine Creek (for views of the Black Peak area) and spending time in the Lake Ann-Heather Pass area. He eventually returned to Bridge Creek station, then hiked up McGregor Mountain and stayed in the lookout for several days. He admired the views of Goode and Agnes Mountains and noted that they both had their first ascents that summer.

After leaving McGregor Mountain he hiked to Cascade Pass with Stephen St John, a lone hiker from New York. Watson admired the view of Eldorado and Hidden Lake Peaks, walked to Cache Col and wandered the meadows below Sahale Mountain. St John hiked out the Cascade River valley, but Watson continued his pilgrimage by hiking back down the Stehekin valley and up to Park Creek Pass, then down Thunder Creek to Diablo, where he caught a ride back to Seattle.

Watson estimated that his travels covered 480 miles, with perhaps 125 miles of backpacking.

p. 298a: Watson has inserted here a copy of the Mary Roberts Rinehart account of her outing in the Cascades in 1916, accompanied by photographer Lawrence D. Lindsley and packer Dan Devore, chapter 32 of her autobiography, "My Story".

p. 303: "The El Dorado Peak region as a new Ski Terrain" *

This is a draft of the first half of the article that was published in the 1937 Mountaineer Annual under the title "Ski Scouting" (mtneer-a-1937-p28). The published article contains specifics missing from the draft, saying, "On May 1, 1937, we, the writers, left Seattle for this territory..." Conversely, the draft contains more information about the route, saying that after breakfast at the shelter, "the climb is begun to a high shoulder to the north over which it is necessary to climb to reach the El Dorado country without climbing over all the peaks in the vicinity." Neither version, however, establishes that the 1937 outing ventured beyond The Triad to Eldorado Peak itself.

p. 305: An account of Watson's first climb of Mt Shuksan in August 1937 with Sigurd Hall and Walt Hoffman. This is followed by a "shooting schedule" (storyboard) of his second climb of Shuksan, 20 August 1939, during which he made a 16 mm movie. The climb via the "Happy Fisher route" included Otto Trott, Andy Hennig, John James, Fred and Helmy Beckey, Sigurd Hall, Joe McGowan and Watson (note beckey-1977-p259). The shooting schedule, on small notebook paper, seems well conceived and is sized to be carried on the climb. I've found no information about skiing on Mt Shuksan anywhere in Watson's scrapbook. This leads me to believe that Shuksan may not have been skied until after WWII, following Watson's most active period.

p. 307: "One of Washington's Wildest Remotenesses: South Cascade Glacier" *

In July 1938, a few weeks after his Glacier Peak ski ascent, Watson and Herbert Butt approached the South Cascade Glacier (on foot) from Downey Creek. They reached the west edge of the glacier, walked to its head for a view across the west fork of Agnes Creek to Dome Peak, then returned the way they had come. This was a two-day trip. The route description is vague and hard to follow. Plenty of brush though.

p. 311: "Glacier Peak-White River Range Circuit" *

Watson subtitled this account "The Delectable Range" and noted "Now called Dakobed--Indian for Glacier Peak." From September 10-17, 1938 with Paul Flint, Watson hiked from the North Fork White River, over Boulder Pass into the Napeequa Valley. They traveled west and traversed the north side of Tenpeak Mountain to the Honeycomb Glacier. They continued to White Mountain, then turned south to White Pass and Indian Pass, then hiked out Indian Creek back to the road. Of Indian Pass Watson wrote, "A year previous on Memorial Day we had skied into this region and found the top of the cabin under a mound of three feet of snow so there was between twelve and fifteen feet that first of June." Watson described the Suiattle glacier as having a "wide upper plateau almost perfect for airplanes." This makes me wonder whether Ira Spring got the idea for his ski-plane assisted ski trip into this area from Watson (spring-1998-p127).

p. 314a: "Mountain Highs of Herman Ulrichs' Photography" *

This is a photocopy of a short bio of Ulrichs announcing a showing of his photos at a gallery in California in 1985. Ulrichs was born August 3, 1902 in Alameda. He was a music teacher at The Cornish School in Seattle when he began venturing into the North Cascades. In 1935 the Forest Service commissioned Ulrichs to lay out the section of the Crest Trail from Glacier Peak to Deception Pass. Ulrichs made 23 first ascents in Oregon and Washington, many of them alone. In 1925, he walked and hitchhiked across the American continent and back, climbing many peaks along the way. The bio says that a special collection has been established in his name at the University of Washington to chronicle his North Cascades explorations.

p. 314b: On this page are photographs of Walt and Dorothy Hoffman and Gene and Betty Paxton.

p. 315: Map of the Dakobed Range circuit. The trip went up Boulder Creek and over the pass into the Napeequa Valley, then west along the north side of the Dakobed Range to the Whitechuck Glacier. It then turned south to go over White Pass, continued to Indian Pass, then turned east down Indian Creek to return to the start. The map indicates a "ski trip route" going up the White River valley to the White Pass area. This page also has a photo of Watson and Ken Fleming on a hike. The account on p. 335 ("Entiat River-Emerald Park Country") places the date at Autumn 1948.

p. 318b: Inserted before p. 319 is a pamphlet for the Washington Motor Coach System with a Watson photo of a skier in silhouette, identified as Erick Larson, near Triad Peak west of Eldorado, circa 1938.

p. 319: "Whitechuck Glacier and White Pass trip" *

This was a trip by Bob Henderson, Walt Ingalls, Ralph Eskenazi, Walt Dyke and Watson starting May 30, 1940. Watson writes that two years earlier they had skied from the Little Wenatchee River to White Mtn, but this was just a teaser, for despite fine weather they had limited time in the area. For the 1940 trip, the party drove up the White River Valley and continued hiking up the valley to a "Yakbid" cabin near White Pass. They had hoped to climb Glacier Peak on skis from here, but unsettled weather forced them to settle for skiing White Mtn instead. Later in the day, three in the party skied to the Whitechuck Glacier. Eventually they were overtaken by rain and fog--typical Memorial Day weather. (Note: I think Watson made a slight mistake here. His previous ski trip must have been in 1937, since it was mentioned in the 1937 Mountaineer annual.)

p. 321: "Buck Pass Ski Trip" *

On Memorial Day weekend, 1941, Walt Dyke, Clint Kelley, Gage Chetwood and Watson hiked and skied to Buck Pass from the Chiwawa River Valley. The weather was not great. Watson writes, "Nice trip so said they all but the packing of the skis and the Little Coca Cola girl was not too pleasant."

p. 329b: Photo of Mt Stuart from SE showing the route of Watson's May ski trip on which he skied to the base, then climbed to and glissaded from the summit via the Cascadian couloir. He has written, "All snow route except summit ridge."

p. 333: "The Flapjack Lakes Vicinity"

This description of the area has a note saying that Watson did summer rambles and spring ski trips in the area, but there are no details of the skiing.

p. 335: Beginning on this page are accounts of summer rambles in the Entiat Mountains in the late 1940s. A few later rambles (in the 1960s) are described in following pages. On p. 375, Watson offers his views (dated Sept 1960) on the "Multiple Use" policy of the U.S. Forest Service. His summary: "A beautiful forest highway has been opened to the Public, NOW THAT WE ARE NEARLY FINISHED LOGGING THERE!" They came, they saw, and they conquered, they burned and they slashed. You can have the rest!"

p. 357: "Mileage Memos and Trail Signs" *

In the Watson's notes of the July 1937 Mt Adams trip with Sigurd Hall, are clues to their Goat Rocks visit. It appears that they skied somewhere above the Goat Ridge trail (not in the heart of the Goat Rocks) during the afternoon before the Mt Adams ascent.

On p. 359 the notes for the 1937 Indian Pass ski trip indicate that this trip was with Sigurd Hall.

p. 361: "Hannegan Pass-Whatcom Pass"

Account of a mid-summer trip (year not noted) by Watson with Paul Flint and Herbert Butt. Describing the view from the summit of Ruth Mtn, Watson writes: "Heretofore a ski trip to this summit proved one of patient waiting for the clouds to come and go and they did but the view was only partial and tantalyzing." This is the only explicit description (other than the entries in his indexes) of Watson's ski ascent of Ruth.

p. 433: "Ski Winters in the Pacific Northwest" *

This unpublished article describes a variety of ski destinations in the Northwest in a style that is frustratingly vague when read as history. It is clear that Watson yearned to share his love of Northwest skiing, but was wary of promotion. In the margins of this article he wrote "B.C. = Before Chairlifts" and "Before a 100 Ski Trips book".

Most interesting historically are his descriptions of the Sibley Pass-Eldorado area. He describes two trips into the area. Of the first, he writes that "each year for the past three this country was visited." This account describes a trip on April 30 and May 1 that clearly did not venture beyond The Triad, due to poor weather.

Of the second trip, he writes that "El Dorado continued to intrigue and so this time it proved to be a bigger trip with four in the party..." This trip does seem to have reached the Inspiration Glacier on Eldorado Peak. He writes:

"After arranging packs for a trip to El Dorado peak we were off at six and the weather looked grand and encouraging. We had a movie camera along and although it was our first experience for fifteen years they all came out happily--splendid and the action fast and interesting. Climbing the huge snow slope above the basin we trekked to a high pass, the only feasible route to El Dorado for the country was full of cliffs of tremendous height. Ski shots were obtained along the way and then the drop down a steep icy slope dangerous and skiddy. It was all done without mishap and soon the final basin was not far away. It seemed like a long climb to the east and the pass over the ridge for a grand view of Inspiration glacier, Boston, Buckner, Cascade pass, an unnamed peak each south and north of the pass both unclimbed and both providing thrilling exercise of doubtful success. It is noon as we peer over the vertical cliffs at the basin below El Dorado shoot a few movies and start back for home."
This description fits the route from Sibley Pass to Eldorado Peak.

The dates of several of the other trips in this article can be inferred from Index D, but since most are not historically significant, I haven't bothered. The article describes skiing at Paradise, Mt Pugh, Squire Creek Pass, Snoqualmie Pass Ski Bowl (Hyak), Meany Ski Hut, Mt Hood, Chinook and Cayuse Passes, and Surprise Lakes south of Steven Pass. Near Mt Baker Lodge, Watson describes skiing to Table Mtn, Coleman Pinnacle and Twin Lakes. He describes a ski attempt on Mt Baker from Baker Lodge with Sigurd Hall. The attempt ended below the Cockscomb, just a few hundred feet below the summit.

p. 445: "The Mount Adams Ski Trip" *

This account opens with a description of a ski trip by Watson and Sigurd Hall that approached Mt Stuart from the Teanaway River in May 1937. The two left their skis at the base of the mountain, climbed to the summit, then glissaded 4000 feet back to the base. On July 4-5, the same party visited the Goat Rocks and then climbed and skied Mt Adams (according to Index D). This account doesn't say anything about skiing in the Goat Rocks. Since their main objective was Adams (done in a day with a pre-dawn start) any skiing they might have done in the Goat Rocks the previous day must have been limited. Index D doesn't list any other Goat Rocks trips, so I doubt that Watson skied there extensively. The Mt Adams account mentions the summit cabin (abandoned) and has a colorful description of skiing a 7000 foot run from summit to timberline. (Note that Index A says both Sigurd Hall and Walt Hoffman were along on the Mt Stuart trip.)

p. 448: Photocopy of a photo of Walt Dyke and "Coca Cola Girl" (a cardboard cutout) on skis above Summerland at Mt Rainier *

The caption says that Coca Cola Girl also went to the top of Mt Adams on the "cosmic ray trip" and on the Buck Pass ski trip.

p. 449: "The Mt Baker Summit Traverse" *

On May 12, 1939, Erick Larson, Andy Hennig and Watson hiked to Kulshan Cabin and spent the night. Leaving at 4:10 am the next morning, they climbed to the summit, where they ate lunch about noon. About 1 pm they descended the NE ridge to a point just above the Cockscomb, roped up, and belayed down the Park Glacier headwall past the bergschrund. From that point they donned skis and descended to Epley Portal. They traversed across the north side of Coleman Pinnacle and the south side of Table Mountain, reaching Baker Lodge at 8:15 pm. The lodge manager gave them a ride back to their car at Glacier Creek and they returned to town late that night. Watson's account mentions shooting movies at various points along the way.

Watson attempted to ski Mt Baker from Camp Kiser with Sigurd Hall on April 24, 1938. They turned around below the Cockscomb due to lack of time. Watson skied Baker via the Coleman Glacier with a group of Mountaineers on July 10, 1938. On April 22, 1939, Watson made another attempt from Camp Kiser with a party of five but was turned back by weather.

p. 454: On a Joseph Scaylea photograph of Mt Baker from the Skagit Valley, Watson has noted the location of a "Bellingham College student disaster--avalanche, 4 killed" on the upper Coleman-Deming route.

p. 455: Inserted here is a Seattle Sunday Times Rotogravure Section article, "To the Top of Mount Baker" dated May 12, 1940. The article illustrates a ski ascent and descent of the Coleman route (skis left at the 8,000 foot level) by Watson, Dave Lind, Walt Dyke, Walt Price and Clair Jarvis. Fine photos of touring, climbing and skiing by Walt Dyke.

p. 457: "Climbing and Skiing on Mt St Helens" *

Watson had been told by a friend in the Wy'East club that St Helens was "too steep for safe skiing in spring snow. Much steeper than anything on Mt Adams." Despite this discouragement, Sigurd Hall, Ralph Eskenazi, John James and Watson drove to Spirit Lake and skied to a timberline camp. Up at 4 am on June 5, 1938 they packed skis up the mountain, arriving at the 9671 foot summit about 10 am. During the descent, they took movies of roped skiing among the crevasses. They skied back to camp about 3 pm and headed home.

p. 459: "Mystic Lake and Old Desolate" *

Old Desolate is a peak between the Carbon and Winthrop Glaciers with a spectacular view of the north side of Mt Rainier. On May 22, 1938, with Sigurd Hall and other skiers, Watson joined a group of Tacoma Mountaineers bound for a climb of the peak on foot. They left Irish Cabin at 4 am and traveled up the Carbon River, carrying skis up the moraine trail. The skiers reached the summit, waited for the climbers to arrive, and paused for lunch. During the descent, the climbers and skiers took different paths, then regrouped at Moraine Cabin before hiking out.

p. 461: "Mt Stuart, White Pass, Mt Adams, etc" *

This seems to be a draft of the second half of the article that was published in the 1937 Mountaineer Annual under the title "Ski Scouting" (mtneer-a-1937-p28). No additional information here.

p. 462: "The Lyman Lake Trip" *

This trip took place over Memorial Day weekend, 1938 with Sigurd Hall and Ralph Eskenazi. Watson describes the possible approaches to the Lyman Lake area and acknowledges that the route via Holden and Railroad Creek is the easiest, but writes that they chose a route that was "most interesting and different."

Using chains and cutting branches, they coaxed their car up the snowy Chiwawa River road to a point three miles from the end. They walked on snow to Phelps Creek and then skied the valley to Phelps Basin, sleeping in the old cabin there. The next morning they skied over Spider Pass in foggy weather and made their way (placing willow wands) down Lyman Glacier to the lake and the Washington Water Power Co. cabin. That evening they skied up North Star Mountain just as the clouds cleared, providing excellent views and skiing. The next morning they quickly returned over Spider Pass and skied down Phelps Creek toward their car.

p. 464a: A summary of the Glacier Peak ski ascent. This is the same account as on p. 260a.

p. 464c: "For the Record" *

Watson writes that Lawrence D. Lindsley, who lived at Twenty-five Mile Creek on Lake Chelan as a young man, told him that in the early 1900s a miner (known to Lindsley) deliberately set fire to the upper Railroad Creek Valley near Hart Lake in order to find ore bodies more easily. He names the miner, but I've decided not to include it here.

p. 465: "Glacier Peak in a Fog" *

On July 4, 1938, Sigurd Hall and Watson skied and climbed to the summit of Glacier Peak from the Milk Creek drainage, following a route along the upper Vista, Ermine, Dusty and Chocolate Glaciers east of Frostbite Ridge. A map on p. 469 shows the route well. Conditions were foggy and sometimes drizzly, but the pair had a break in the weather at the summit, which enabled them to find a more direct route back, skiing west of the Rabbit Ears down the upper Kennedy Glacier to rejoin their ascent route. They made the ascent on their third day out and continued all the way home that day, arriving at the car at midnight and back in Seattle at 5 am in time for work.

p. 468d: "The Upski Experiment" *

Written in 1992, this article describes making a movie spoof of skiers sliding uphill under the power of a back-mounted propeller (the fan was actually a large disc of circular clear plastic). The idea was one discussed with Sigurd Hall before his death and executed afterwards. (It involved filming people skiing backwards with the camera upside-down.) The article contains a long list of trips done by Watson and Hall. All are described in more detail elsewhere in the scrapbook. The article also lists ski trips on which Hall was not present. The following are ski trips not detailed elsewhere in the scrapbook (no dates are given here):

Grindstone Mtn, via Chatter Creek, in the fog
Monte Cristo, Glacier Basin
Hedley Pass, Sunshine Mine trail (Pearl Harbor day)
Corral Pass, snow road
Tatoosh Range
Frosty Pass via Wildhorse Creek
Faraway Rocks and Camp Muir (cosmic ray)
Mt Adams via Bird Creek meadows (cosmic ray)

p. 471: "The Suiattle, Downey Creek, South Cascade Glacier" *

This summary of Watson's rambles around the South Cascade Glacier has a brief account of his 1938 trip with Herbert Butt that is more concise and readable than the account on p. 307. Inspired by the 1938 trip, Watson, Sigurd Hall and Ralph Eskenazi attempted to reach the glacier with skis in 1939. (Index D says it was Watson, Hall and Hoffman on 1 July 1939). The trip was aborted by rain near the head of Downey Creek. Watson went back on July 24 with Eskenazi and reached the glacier again, presumedly without skis this time. This article also includes notes about the lake at the toe of the glacier. At the time of Watson's first visit, the lake was small enough that one could throw a rock across. In the 1970s, Watson was amazed to see a Seattle Times photo of a seaplane from Kenmore Air Service that had landed on the lake in support of the USGS study team there.

p. 473: Map of Watson routes along the North Cascades crest in the area of the Ptarmigan Traverse *

This rough map shows the routes followed by Watson during his long summer outing of 1936. Also shown are the routes of his 1938-39 trips to the South Cascade Glacier.

p. 484a: Letter, dated April 25, 1978, to The Mountaineers and Fred Beckey *

This letter thanks the Mountaineers and Fred Beckey for the new Cascade Alpine Guide recently sent to Watson. The letter mentions that Watson had movie shots of Sigurd Hall on the summit of Glacier Peak skiing across what appears to be a little frozen lake. It also includes this postscript: "How little did we realize years ago, Fred's dazzling career when we made a 16mm color film climbing Mt Shuksan, along with his brother Helmy and Dr Trott, etc."

p. 484c: A photocopied picture of the south side of Mt Stuart shows the route taken by Watson when he skied to the base of the peak, left skis, then climbed up and glissaded down.

p. 485: Captioned photos *

This photocopied page of photos and captions may be useful when reviewing Watson's photo collection. It includes photos of:

Skier climbing a steep slope on Sol Duc Peak
Man crossing river log over Downey Creek carrying skis
Skier atop a snow wall near Cowlitz Chimneys
Man carrying skis through brush in Foss River, approach to Mt Hinman
Skier near Surprise Pass
Men packing skis into Glacier Peak

p. 486b: "The Death of Sigurd Hall"

Photocopy of an article by Fred H. McNeil from the 1940 American Ski Annual (asa-1940-p38). At the end of the article, Watson has added this note:

"The FACTS of his death are not doubted but the truth of the situation was not well reported. No doubt of the movement of fog that contributed to the danger, BUT the FACT that a number of the skiers involved were injured including broken leg etc. suggests that the Officials were not alert with such a situation. They were all interested in winning. Sig Hall should not be singled out as desperate to win, that resulted in his tragic death. --D.W."

At the end of the photocopied article, Watson has pasted a photograph of Sigurd Hall, shirtless and in profile, sitting atop Mt Shuksan.

p. 487: Letter from Watson to Mrs Marie Hoel of Nordmore, Norway, dated September 21, 1946 *

This letter offers condolences to the mother of Sigurd Hall (born Hoel) six years after his death, and following World War II. Watson writes, "It had been my intention to write before this." He describes meeting Hall through the Seattle Mountaineers, although Watson was not a member at that time. "I knew so many wonderful places that had possibilities to ski that I had many fine times with good old Sig as we used to call him." Watson also writes, "Personally I never was a real good skier but could get along all right and we had some grand times." Watson continues, "Later as Sigurd was winning many races I was not able to get out so much with him but we kept in touch." Watson comments on the Silver Skis race in which Hall lost his life, noting that many other racers were hurt that day and suggesting that the sponsors did not take adequate precautions. He follows with observations on the current state of the world from a religious perspective. Finally he closes, "We hope that the scars heal quickly and completely."

p. 489: Letter from Watson to Mme. Helga Hals of Tinvoll, Norway, dated September 25, 1947 *

This letter provides some details of the settling of Sigurd Hall's estate and the status of a few of his friends. It mentions that Matt Broze won the last Silver Skis race held before the war closed competitive skiing. The relationship of Helga Hals to Sigurd Hall is not explained.

p. 497: Photocopied picture of Mt Baker showing the summit ski traverse route. Photocopied picture of Mt Rainier showing the route of Watson's attempted ski ascent of the Emmons route, shortly before Sigurd Hall's successful ascent.

p. 498-99: Photocopies and clippings showing the route of the Glacier Peak ski ascent.

p. 501: Photocopied picture of Mt Hinman from the north, showing the route of the ski ascent. A fine photograph at the bottom of the page depicts two men backpacking through heavy brush in the East Fork Foss River, carrying long skis over their shoulders.

p. 502b: Account of early ski rambles also found on (probably copied to) p. 260a.

p. 503: Large photocopy of a picture by Watson of three skiers on the Triad divide, with the west side of Eldorado Peak in the background. This picture was published in the Mountaineer annual (mtneer-a-1944-p39). This is probably the May 15, 1938 trip on which the skiers completed the traverse of the Triad divide to the Inspiration Glacier.

p. 504: Photocopied picture of two skiers atop Old Desolate, with the Willis Wall of Mt Rainier in the background (also published in the Mountaineer annual).

p. 511: "The National Ski Patrol and the U.S. War Department" *

This note was written by Watson in 1988. It describes the role of Minot Dole in starting the National Ski Patrol after 1936 and also in lobbying General George C. Marshall to train mountain troops for winter warfare after 1940. Later the military requested the help of the Ski Patrol to "have a knowledge of the mountainous areas in event of disasters such as plane crashes etc." Eventually a program was outlined that broke up the Cascades into 10 mile sections, each a Patrol region. Watson chose the Stevens Pass area. Watson notes that he was on a ski reconnaissance of the Big Four Mountain area when he learned that Pearl Harbor had been bombed. Watson did a number of exploratory/training trips in the Stevens Pass area, and it was during this time that he met A. H. Sylvester, former Regional Forester, retired in Wenatchee.

p. 515: Ski Patrol Notes *

Starting on this page are copies of several documents describing the activities of the National Ski Patrol in cooperation with the War Department in the early 1940s. Patrol personnel were to "become thoroughly familiar with local terrain to the end that they may be prepared to furnish guides to the Army and to extend the anti-aircraft warning and anti-parachute defense systems into comparatively inaccessible regions." Patrol activites included making maps for Patrol use, testing equipment, and conducting winter training. Watson led the map making work. Ome Daiber and Will Borrow tested and developed standards for equipment.

p. 525: Watson's certificate and badge of membership of the National Ski Patrol, dated March 9, 1943.

p. 529: A letter, dated Aug 17, 1943, from C.J. Conover, Acting Forest Supervisor authorizes Lyle St. Louis, Ome Daiber, Lee Stark and Dwight Watson to lead parties into mountainous areas of the Snoqualmie Forest for training purposes to help in rescue work in association with the Ski Patrol. Apparently some areas of the forest were closed to recreation during the war. Following this page are a number of sketch and topographic maps prepared by Watson to support Ski Patrol training activities.

p. 539: Sketch map of Ski Patrol routes in the Stevens Pass area *

One route travels from the ski area south to Mill Creek and Lake Josephine, then follows the crest to Hope Lake before descending Tunnel Creek back to the highway. Another route branches off from Lake Josephine and continues to the Icicle Creek road.

p. 547: A sketch map of a Ski Patrol training trip up the West Fork Foss River has a note mentioning that the Mt Hinman ski trip went up the East Fork.

p. 551: Sketch map and record of Ski Patrol trip from Stevens Pass highway to Icicle Creek road *

This trip took place on May 1-2, 1943. The sketch map on p. 551a has a note of a "Grindstone Mtn ski trip" going up Chatter Creek. Watson has recorded times to various points along the route. The route followed the Icicle Creek valley from Lake Josephine.

p. 557: Describes an experimental overnight Ski Patrol training trip near Snoqualmie Pass on January 30, 1944.

p. 559: Describes a Ski Patrol bivouac training trip near Snoqualmie Pass in February, 1944 in cold temperatures (15 below zero).

p. 567: "The Mt Hinman Trip (Ski)" *

On May 5-6, 1944, Dave Lind, Charlie Cehrs, Dean Thompson, Gene Paxton and Watson skied Mt Hinman, approaching up the East Fork Foss River. Watson wrote that for ten years, since his days of skiing with Sigurd Hall, he had considered this trip. The mountain was tantalizing when viewed from the Stevens Pass ski area. Of the brushy approach Watson wrote, "It was a fight, but another couple of weeks and it would have been TERRIBLE." The skiing from the summit was excellent, and Watson wrote that it was "with extreme difficulty that time was taken for movies." (Note the Index B says this trip was May 3, 1942 but Index D says May 1944.)

p. 577: A letter from Watson to friends dated 10 Dec 1987 says that he has been keeping in touch with Andy Hennig in Twin Falls Idaho.

p. 581: "Some Reminiscing Memoes" *

In these notes, Watson mentions meeting Hermann Ulrichs when Ulrichs taught piano at Cornish School in Seattle. The school was near the lab of photographer Alfred Witter, which Watson frequented. He says that Ulrichs did not ski but did rambles in winter on foot. Ulrichs died in February 1988 at age 81. Watson mentions that Walter Hoffman suggested a trip to the Winter Olympics in Garmisch Germany in 1936, but Watson instead spent two months skiing and photographing at Paradise for the Hotel Company, who had no winter pictures.

p. 592c: A photo of Walter Hoffman with a note: "In memory of Walt Hoffman, Nov 1907-Nov 1992."

p. 593: Beginning on this page are materials (a letter, outline, summary of progress, interesting findings, bibliography) from Sylvia A Thorpe, Ph.D. of Bellingham regarding a book project on the history of the North Cascades National Park, dated 1986.

p. 621: Letters from Watson to Silvia Thorpe, dated early 1987 *

These include reminiscences and leads for Thorpe's research. Watson mentions that he met Lawrence Lindsley through photographer Alfred Witter. Hermann Ulrichs introduced Watson to the North Cascades, especially the Eldorado region. (Watson mentions doing a spring ramble with Ulrichs from Sibley Creek to The Triad, but says Ulrichs never did ski. It sounds like this ramble may have been prior to the 1936 Hanging Gardens trip.) He says that he's known Ray Atkeson of Portland for years and has done some trips with him.

p. 650: Letter from Silvia Thorpe, apparently sent to everyone she talked to during her research. After interviewing nearly 100 people between January 1987 and June 1988 and reviewing many sources, she put the project aside (before publishing her proposed book) in order to learn "a better way of doing things...God's way." This is the last document in Watson's scrapbook. Inside the back cover of the book is pasted a card with the words: "Enjoying the Trip--Haven't missed a thing. I hope!" and finally a clipped headline: "There's Intelligent Life on Earth."

Loose Leaf Items

LL1: Photocopy of an ad for "100 Hikes" dated Aug 1966. Watson has written, "Much wear and tear began with this book!" and "Don't go to these. Too many people!"

LL2: Another photocopy picture of a run-down looking cabin, with a note on the back, "Old miner's cabin head Phelps Creek on Chiwawa. Camped on deep snow on May ski trip. Cabin dirty."

LL3: A poem:

RECOMPENSE
How easily in years ago
I climbed the steepest trail.
How eagerly from valley depths
With alpine stock I'd scale
The tallest mountain's craggy heights
With barely time for rest,
Until at last with panting breath
I gained the highest crest.
But now with sixty summers past,
I can no longer feel
The same far call of shining peaks
With all their wild appeal.
And yet, for such as I,
There is a recompense.
The added years have given me
A keener sight or sense
To comprehend the beauty here
That lies around my door.
So now in nearer, gentler paths
I travel more and more.
--Norman Edson


Return to the Alpenglow Ski Mountaineering History Project home page

Copyright © 2002 Lowell Skoog. All Rights Reserved.
Last Updated: Fri, Nov 1, 2019 8:35:48 PM