The Great White Watcher - Part 5
By Ken Wilcox © Copyright 2023
Since that inspiring trek up the Railroad Grade moraine and the summit climb the next year, my infatuation with the North Cascades has not diminished. I must have hiked, scrambled, or climbed a hundred or more peaks in those first several years, and I hiked every trail I could on days off from work. I got to know the paths and geography so well, an office mate suggested I write a guidebook to our local trails. What the hell, I thought. Write a book? I could to that. In early 1987, the first scrappy edition of Hiking Whatcom County found a warm spot on the shelf at Village Books in Bellingham. My initial worry about being stuck with a garage full of 2,000 unsold books proved unfounded though, as book has since tripled in size and is now in its seventh edition.
Around that time and just for the novelty of it, three of us got the idea of climbing Mount Baker overnight, early in the season. We hoped to arrive at the summit in time to catch the sunrise. We ascended in pitch darkness to the Coleman Glacier, where the stars were so bright, we could put away our headlamps. Perhaps halfway up, though, we turned into laggards, sat in the snow, and ogled a while. When we finally prodded ourselves to continue on, a bright ball and streak of light suddenly appeared, skidding slowly across the night sky from horizon to horizon. We read later that a satellite had burned up in the atmosphere, although at the time, the freakish sight had given us pause. We mushed on and were soon celebrating a cold and sunny April morning, standing once again on top of the world.
As the most prominent mountain in our small corner of the globe, Kulshan is plainly visible at a distance in all directions. When it pops into view along some country road, or on the ferry ride to the islands, while cruising up and down Interstate-5, or while vicariously sipping tea on a Victorian porch, I can’t help but ogle at her again, sometimes recalling another fine adventure somewhere close by.
So, thank you Koma Kulshan, for the life-long inspiration. I hope to visit your noble summit again soon, perhaps this year or next.
For more of history of the Watcher and those she inspired, get your hands on John Miles’ Koma Kulshan: The Story of Mt. Baker, republished in 2010 by Village Books in Bellingham. Or perhaps look into joining the Mount Baker Club or Bellingham Mountaineers to find new ways to get close to the mountain and hear more of her stories. And to get really involved in the work of saving wilderness, check out the North Cascades Conservation Council.
Remembering Charles Easton—
“In 1909, the Mazamas Club drafted a proposal to create a Mount Baker National Park that would encompass Mt. Baker, Mt. Shuksan and their environs. Charles [Easton] became an active participant in the newly formed Mount Baker Hiking Club that spearheaded the park campaign, and helped the Club and the Bellingham Chamber organize the first Mt. Baker marathon in 1911. The marathon became famous nationwide until a [near] fatal accident shut down the celebration after the 1913 race, but it was the forerunner of Ski-to-Sea, which began 60 years later.”