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Cascadian Annual, 1980-89

Cascadian Annual, 1980

This annual commemerates the 60th Anniversary of the Cascadians, 1920-1980. It contains articles taken from old club annuals and newspaper clippings.

p. 2, Noonan, Janice Laaksonen, "Rick Mack"

Rick Mack was born Harryette Reichelderfer on October 7, 1897 in Kansas City, Kansas. She moved with her family to Ellensburg when she was nine. She attended the University of Washington, where she met F.D. Mack. They were married in 1917 and moved to Sunnyside in 1918. Rick and her husband led Sunnyside Scout Troup no. 30 for ten years. "When her Scouts talked of future plans, exhilarated by a recent outing, their talk was always, 'Boy, when I get married, my wife is going to love hiking and climbing.' Rick's response was always the same: 'Go find her on a mountain top; don't pick her out at a dance.'" The article describes Rick's worldwide travel, beginning in 1960, but says little about her experiences in the mountains of Washington.

p. 5, Unknown newspaper, February 23, 1923, "Yakima Skiers Get To Camp"

Clarence Truitt and a party of skiers reached Bumping Lake on February 22, "after having spent 12 hours in covering the 22 miles between Fontaine's and Jack Nelson's cabin. They left Fontaine's early, "after having spent the night at Cliffdell." The article confirms that Truitt was a skier.

p. 6, Yakima Morning Herald, January 9, 1926 "Sports Of All Sorts"

"One organization of sportsmen in the Yakima Valley finds no fault with any kind of weather. When the snow is on the ground, the Cascadians ski and toboggan, when it leaves they hike and climb the hills or plan excursions."

p. 6, "Marathon of the Mountains"

From July 3-11, 1926, Clarence Starcher and Clarence Truitt of the Cascadians, together with Q.A. Blackburn of the Seattle Mountaineers, "made a record for mountain climbing and hiking that as a pleasure trip likely has no equal in the experience of mountaineers." Starting at Cloud Cap Inn on July 3, they climbed Mt Hood and descended to Government Camp, then drove to Spirit Lake. On July 4 they climbed up and down Mt St Helens and started hiking toward Mt Adams. On July 6 they climbed Mt Adams and started hiking toward Mt Rainier. On July 9 they climbed Mt Rainier by the Kautz Glacier and descended the Gibraltar route to Paradise. Then they hiked over the Cascade crest to Bumping Lake, from which point they were driven by automobile back to Yakima on July 11. They carried no bedding and subsisted on berries, nuts, dried fruits, and canned wheat. They estimated that during the nine-day trip they hiked approximately 350 miles and climbed 56,826 feet. This account was excerpted from the 1927 Cascadian Annual. (See also cascadian-1985-p8.)

p. 7, Yakima Daily Republic, November 18, 1929, "Ski Course Work Starts On Location To Be Used During Winter Activity"

Fifteen members of the American Legion and the Cascadians cleared a ski course about three miles from Yakima. "It is a short distance from the end of the Selah-Moxee tunnel under construction at the present time." I belive this was on the north side of Yakima Ridge, near East Selah, just east of the current route of I-82.

Cascadian Annual, 1982

p. 5, "Dave Mahre"

Dave Mahre was born in Yakima on August 8, 1927. He graduated from high school in 1945 and served in the Merchant Marines in 1945-46. He began climbing in 1948 without any special equipment, clothing or instruction. In 1950, while climbing Mt Adams, he met Lex Maxwell, "who bawled him out because he didn't have good equipment." Sometime after his encounter with Lex Maxwell, Dave became a Cascadian. He became one of the Northwest's best climbers, with first ascents on Mt Rainier, Little Tahoma, Mt Adams and Mt Stuart. Dave worked for his father in farming until 1962. That year, he started working full time as mountain manager of the White Pass Ski Area. He moved his family to White Pass in December 1966.

Cascadian Annual, 1983

p. 5, Hessey, Charles D., "Gold Hill - Then Until Now"

The author first visited Gold Hill when there were a few down-on-their-luck prospectors there. His second visit was thirteen years later, as a guest of Yakima Boy Scout Troop One and its scoutmaster, Clarence Truitt. There was one cabin left at that time, and it had been converted to winter use by some young Yakima skiers, including Tom McCartney. After graduating from high school, these skiers moved on and Truitt obtained use of the cabin from them. To resolve the cabin's legal ownership, he obtained a quit-claim deed to it for a modest sum. This was in about 1938. War scattered most of the skiers in 1942. Following the war, Truitt no longer wanted responsibility for the cabin, so a group including the Hesseys bought it from him. Truitt died in 1949. In 1960, the group built a new cabin and removed the old one. (See also cascadian-1985-p11.)

Cascadian Annual, 1984

p. 7, Johnson, Philip E., "The New William O. Douglas Wilderness"

In July 1984, President Reagan signed into law the Washington Wilderness Bill, which created the William O. Douglas and Norse Peak Wilderness areas, the former being the south unit and the latter the north unit of the long proposed Cougar Lakes Wilderness. The author's experience in the area dates from 1948. In the early 1970s, Kay Kershaw invited him to join the Cougar Lakes Wilderness Alliance. He became a spokesman for the group and was president of the Alliance when the Washington Wilderness Bill was enacted.

Cascadian Annual, 1985

p. 8, The Wigwam, January 16, 1929, "Local Mountaineers Climb Four Cascades Peaks In Nine Days"

This newspaper article contains more details about the 1926 "Marathon of the Mountains" (cascadian-1980-p6). At the time of this article Q.A. Blackburn was with Commander Byrd in Antarctica. Truitt and Starcher drove from Yakima to Cloudcap Inn on July 2. On July 3, they climbed over the summit of Mt Hood to Government Camp. The car met them there and they drove to Spirit Lake where they met Blackburn. After climbing Mt St Helens, the three men hiked the Skyline Trail to Mt Adams and climbed up and down the north ridge of Adams. After the climb of Mt Rainier, Blackburn left the party at Paradise. Truitt and Starcher hiked to Bumping Lake to return to Yakima. Their packs were limited to 16 pounds.

p. 11, Pratt, Clar, "The Gold Hill Experience"

This history of Gold Hill expands upon the material in cascadian-1978-p2 and cascadian-1983-p5. The Cascadians began skiing the Gold Hill area around 1935 and later hauled in an old circus wagon for temporary lodging. Lex Maxwell remembers laying out ski runs at American River Ski Bowl in the early 1930s. They also established a course up American Ridge, with one long run down to the Bumping Road and one coming back into the ski bowl. The Pacific Northwst Ski Association held several tournaments at American River. One year there was not enough snow, so a substitute course was set up at Quartermile, with was actually a half mile up Morse Creek from the Chinook Pass highway, but was dubbed Quartermile to entice PNSA to accept the switch. The modern log cabin was built about 1960. It was designed by Otto Lagervall, who founded Yakima Industries, maker of cartop equipment carriers. The Gold Hill Ski Club operated a rope tow in the area for about 25 years. The land on which the Gold Hill cabin stands is leased from the Forest Service on a year to year basis.

The article offers background on Chuck and Marion Hessey, including their trip from White Pass to the Goat Rocks with Tom Lyon and Dorothy Egg in the 1950s. "Skiing Cascade Wilderness" was filmed in 1956 at Lyman Lake with Tom Lyon, Phil Dahl and Bruce Gilbert.

Cascadian Annual, 1989

p. 7, Noonan, Patrick, "Chuck Hessey Remembered"

Chuck Hessey was born February 20, 1908 and died January 12, 1990. This personal remembrance highlights Hessey's role as an outdoor mentor.