Washington Shores and Summits

North America Meet in September 2005

by Malcolm Imhoff

Fifteen of us were guests of the Seattle Mountaineers, who had put together a programme designed to show us the best this part of the West Coast has to offer. It was an incredibly full schedule (i.e. early starts and no rest days!) as the Committee was very keen to maximise our enjoyment. On most days there was a choice of one or two hikes and one or more scrambles.

To start with we had a couple of Seattle-based days, when we did Silver Peak, Tinkham Peak, and Mount Townsend (where I was thrilled to see a Brocken Spectre. Thereafter the meet was split, like Gaul, into three parts, the first of which was to the Olympic Peninsula where we got to climb Mount Angeles and explore the temperate rain forest. The more adventurous of us backpacked into Cape Alava where we camped on the beach, strolled along the seashore, gathered driftwood and sang round the campfire, watched the sun go down over the Pacific Ocean, talked and laughed late into the night. Deer and chipmunks came to see us. It was a magical experience.

The second section of the trip was to the South Cascades, which started with a visit to "Paradise", the visitor centre on Mount Rainier. Bad weather forced the cancellation of a hike to Camp Muir, but we did manage to get onto the mountain and there were tantalising glimpses of it through the mist. Our patience was rewarded when, on the drive out, the skies cleared, and Mount Rainier appeared in magnificent splendour. Another fascinating day was a "naturist" hike, where I got to know the names of many familiar trees, shrubs and flowers.

Then we went to the North Cascades for the third part of the meet. The scramble to Wallaby Peak and the hike to Maple Pass, were for me two of the best days - that is until I got stung by a wasp, a misfortune which was experienced by several of our party. We stayed in Winthrop, which is a cowboy film set!

We were all impressed by the beauty and variety of the mountains of Washington. But what the majority of us will remember most, and what made the trip so special, was the love, care and affection showered on us by Cindy Hoover and the Seattle Mountaineers, their friends and families, who spent over a year organising the visit for us, plus the homestay hosts who welcomed us into their hearts. It was a memorable experience. Thank you.

The summit party on Wallaby Peak: Ling, Helen, Chris, co-leader Jan, Ros, Dave and co-leader Jim
Photos by Malcolm Imhoff

Suddenly the mists cleared to reveal Mount Rainier in magnificent splender

Our idyllic campsite on the beach

Typical colourful shopfront

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