#Chelan Mountains

[eopederson2]

Edge of Alpine Lakes Wilderness, 2019.

Illustration of a frustration, for there was no time to leave the road and hike into the wilderness.

[ancientstarrydynamo]

[rabbitcruiser]

In the evening on December, 14, 1872 a severe earthquake shook the Pacific Northwest in the USA. A giant portion of the hillside of Broken Mountain (WA) fell into the Columbia River that night.

[thegreypedaler]

[mmaxywaxy]

Chelan, WA 03/2023

[samwisefamgee]

Just found out Multnomah Falls are the most visited national recreation site in the PNW and I might flip

[silhouetteofacedar]

Halves

One of many little moments on a long journey.

AO3

The views along Washington State’s Cascade Loop are breathtaking, according to the brochures from the stand in the lobby of their motel in Chelan. Just past the pseudo-Bavarian enclave that is Leavenworth, Highway 2 hugs the curves of the Wenatchee River through Tumwater Canyon. The scenic byway is tucked between the churning waters and dramatic, towering crags of quartz crested with pines. It’s early spring, and the mountains slowly shake off their winter coats to reveal fresh leaves on the aspens and the first blooms of trillium creeping along the ground. 

Dana Scully sees none of this.

It’s an unfortunate aspect of their work as federal agents; thousands of miles traversed across the continental United States, untold hours spent in anonymous rental vehicles with mysterious odors and pilling upholstery. She knew when she joined the Bureau three years ago that the travel involved would be less than glamorous, but there’s something particularly demoralizing about viewing America the Beautiful solely through a windshield splattered with insect carcasses. 

Scully always falls asleep on long car rides; lulled into slumber by the hum of the engine, the murmur of tires on asphalt, the fact that Mulder sometimes stops talking long enough for her to drop off. She wonders if it’s because his jaw gets tired; in the relatively short time they’ve worked together she’s never known him to run out of things to say.

Her sleep thins on the edges as Mulder wakes her with a soft brush of his knuckle on the tip of her nose. She hears him say they’re still a few hours away from the Seattle field office, but he’s hungry and his long grasshopper legs need a stretch. 

Scully hums in assent, eyelids still heavy as she rearranges herself into a more upright position in the passenger seat. They’ve arrived at one of those proverbial wide spots in the road that bears a “Welcome To” sign, as though that gives it a sense of place when it boasts little more than a gas pump and a convenience store. 

Apparently, this place is called Cole’s Corner, and a hand-painted banner next to a particularly stubborn melting snow berm says there are world-famous milkshakes up ahead. 

Mulder pulls into the gravel parking lot outside what looks like a small house with pink and teal trim. A neon sign advertising banana pancakes hangs in the window.

Scully is hungry and groggy from her nap in the car, her hips and legs stiff from sitting too long.

She gathers her coat around her and slips out of the sedan, the scent of wet pine and moss filling her nose. Droplets of mist bead the shoulders of her coat, clinging to the wool. She can feel her hair creeping into fuzzy curls at the nape of her neck, coaxed into a frizz by the damp Pacific Northwest air. It’s been about a year since they were first in this part of the country together, tearing through waist-high ferns in the dark cedar groves of Bellefleur, hands outstretched. That first case together felt like a rebirth, wherein she shed her old self like her red bathrobe in candlelight in front of her strange new partner. The rich scent of damp earth and rotting logs filled her lungs as she was baptized by the cold Oregon rain, forever changed.

Heavy droplets begin to fall, and she pulls her collar tighter as they ascend the steps to the diner’s front door.

The restaurant is small but warm, every inch of the walls covered in 1950s pop culture memorabilia. A jukebox plays Buddy Holly in the corner; an Elvis-shaped clock swings its pendulum legs in time. Something greasy and heavenly is sizzling in the kitchen, the aroma pulling her in. Scully smiles softly; leave it to Mulder to stumble upon the kitschiest restaurant in the entire state of Washington.

They settle into a small corner booth with sticky grey vinyl seats. They create an odd picture at the table in the midst of hikers in denim and windbreakers; two figures of dramatically different heights draped in layers of dark fabric, heads inclined towards each other with an intimacy that can’t be easily explained. They’ve composed this images together countless times in greasy spoons across the country, travel-weary and disoriented by differing time zones. Sometimes they talk; occasionally they argue. Often they get mistaken for a couple, which irks Scully primarily because she mistakes them for one too. It’s unconscious; Mulder’s warm, firm hand on the small of her back sends messages to her weary brain that her body frequently assigns to the Boyfriend category.

Mulder has that effect on her often. He bursts through barriers, occupying space that had previously only been inhabited by intimate partners. He crams himself into her psyche, poking through neatly filed expectations and burrowing into her soul, creating his own uniquely shaped spot in her being. 

She tries not to think about it; tries not to notice his full lower lip, the charming mole on his right cheek, the way he leans in too close when he talks to her. How he curves over her, his warm voice in her ear. At the office, she feels alert and well-armed against her physical reactions, can easily take her thoughts captive before they get away from her. But when she’s drowsy, far from home, hungry, those base feelings rise faster than she can tamp them back down. He makes her feel small in the best ways and she’s in danger of losing herself in the cover of his wingspan. 

She needs caffeine.

All the waitresses at this establishment have the same name tag; hot pink with the name “Flo” etched into the plastic. A cheery, bespectacled young Flo with blond braids takes their orders, pours cups of too-strong coffee. Scully chooses a BLT, light on the mayo. Mulder orders a grilled cheese sandwich with ham and tomatoes and a cup of chicken and rice soup. 

Scully gazes out the fogging window, slowly warming and wakening in the cozy bustle of the diner. Johnny Cash sings of a ring of fire. Plates clatter in the kitchen, a spoon clinks in a chipped coffee mug. Raindrops fall.

Silence feels more friendly these days, a comfortable pause filling what little space remains between her and Mulder. Words have become only one of the many ways in which they communicate. Their hands carry on their own conversation as the waitress brings their plates; understanding and collaboration in the simple passing of a napkin or nudging the salt across the table.

Mulder picks up a half of his sandwich, toasted a golden brown and cut neatly at a diagonal. “You want a bite?” he asks, holding it out across the speckled formica tabletop, and Scully realizes that it’s the first thing he’s said aloud directly to her since they got out of the car. She hesitates, then leans forward and takes a small, crisp bite out of the corner. Their knees brush momentarily, and she sits back in the booth and considers the flavors of butter and melted cheddar on her tongue.

“Good, huh?” Mulder asks, taking a bite himself. “My dad made them this way, but not on a griddle. Open-faced in the broiler so the tomatoes could get browned.”

Scully nods, stirring her coffee and blowing on it gently. “I haven’t had a grilled cheese in years,” she muses. “It’s the perfect rainy day food.”

“We can trade halves, if you want,” he suggests.

A small smile creeps across Scully’s mouth. Her Mulder has a delightful boyish streak that she pretends not to find appealing. “Race you to the playground afterward?” she jokes. Regardless, she picks up a half of her BLT and places it on his plate, taking the remaining half of his grilled cheese. 

He flashes her a brief, dazzling smile before taking another bite of his sandwich. Scully feels her cheeks warming slightly and turns her attention to her lunch. A full Mulder smile, with bright eyes and teeth, is almost too much for her to bear. A dart of sunlight spearing through a sky blanketed with soft gray clouds. 

Maybe someday she’ll tell him how he makes her feel, how sometimes her heart tumbles in her chest at the sight of him. How his most annoying moments are simultaneously the most endearing, how she’s beginning to love him just a little in spite of herself.

Maybe he already knows.

But for now they’ll just trade portions of their lunches, pass the ketchup, pool the crumpled bills in their wallets when the check comes. Travel in silence as they drive over Steven’s Pass, the view ahead blotted by low-hanging clouds.

[mountrainiernps]

Native American Heritage Month

The first non-Indigenous climbers of Mount Rainier were guided by an Indigenous man called Sluskin. The name appears several times throughout the park’s history, and it actually refers to more than one person. Sluskin aka Saluskin, Sluse-cum, Salooskin, Shu-lu-skin, or Sluiskin, is a family name among the Yakama people. In Mount Rainier’s history the most well-known is the guide Sluiskin, who led P.B. Van Trump and Hazard Stevens during their trip to summit the mountain in 1870. However, there was another Sluskin, who told a story from when he was a young man.

In the summer of 1855, Sluskin and his people were camping northeast of the present city of Yakima when they were approached by two “King George men” (white men) in search of a guide to Tahoma, the “White Mountain.” The men identified themselves as employees of Governor Stevens. Sluskin, who had learned the routes from his father, agreed to serve as their guide. After guiding them to the north side of the mountain, Sluskin’s story recounts:

“Next morning I saw them put lunch in pockets and leave camp. …they start up the mountain. They put on shoes to walk on ice …shoes with nails in two places like this [heel and toe]. They started early at daylight and came back after dark same day. I stayed in camp all day and thought they fell in ice split and died. At night I saw smoke go up from top of mountain, and I heard it like low thunder (probably an avalanche on Willis Wall). The white men told me they went on top of mountain and looked with glass along Cascades toward Okanogan and British Columbia, Lake Chelan and everywhere. They said ‘We find lines.’ They told me they set stick or rock on top of mountain. …They said ‘Ice all over top, lake in center, and smoke [or steam] coming out all around like sweat-house.’”

Despite the unknown identity of the two “King George men” surveyors, it is believed that Sluskin’s account truly documents the earliest known expedition to the mountain’s summit by non-Indigenous people. Records of native guides like Sluskin, who were familiar with routes to the mountain, also attest to Indigenous peoples’ close connection to the mountain, which they travelled to often for food and other resources.

NOTE: Sluskin’s 1855 story was recorded by Luculus McWhorter in 1916. Sluskin account and excerpts are from “Plants, Tribal Traditions, and the Mountain”, G. Burtchard, D. Hooper, & A. Peterson, 2024, pp 35-38. Available at https://go.nps.gov/Plants-TribalTraditionsReport

NPS/C. Meleedy Photo of Mount Rainier from the north side along the Wonderland Trail.

[weather-pnw]

Weather: Pacific Northwest

Report generated at 2024-12-25 16:00:10.377378-08:00 using satellite imagery and alert data provided by the National Weather Service.

Winter Storm Warning

WA:

Central Chelan County

Lower Slopes of the Eastern Washington Cascades Crest

Okanogan Highlands

Okanogan Valley

Olympics

Upper Slopes of the Eastern Washington Cascades Crest

Waterville Plateau

Wenatchee Area

West Slopes North Cascades and Passes

West Slopes North Central Cascades and Passes

West Slopes South Central Cascades and Passes

Western Chelan County

Western Okanogan County

ID:

Bear River Range

Big Hole Mountains

Big Lost Highlands/Copper Basin

Blackfoot Mountains

Caribou Range

Centennial Mountains/Island Park

Franklin/Eastern Oneida Region

Marsh and Arbon Highlands

Raft River Region

Sawtooth/Stanley Basin

Southern Hills/Albion Mountains

Sun Valley Region

Teton Valley

Wood River Foothills

Winter Weather Advisory

WA:

Cascades of Lane County

Cascades of Marion and Linn Counties

North Oregon Cascades

Northeast Mountains

Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon

Northwest Blue Mountains

South Washington Cascades

Upper Columbia Basin

OR:

Baker County

Cascades of Lane County

Cascades of Marion and Linn Counties

East Slopes of the Oregon Cascades

North Central and Southeast Siskiyou County

North Oregon Cascades

Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon

Northwest Blue Mountains

Siskiyou Mountains and Southern Oregon Cascades

South Central Oregon Cascades

South Central Siskiyou County

South Washington Cascades

Upper Weiser River

Western Siskiyou County

ID:

Arco/Mud Lake Desert

Baker County

Bear Lake Valley

Beaverhead/Lemhi Highlands

Boise Mountains

Camas Prairie

Central Panhandle Mountains

Eastern Magic Valley

Frank Church Wilderness

Lost River Range

Lower Snake River Plain

Northern Clearwater Mountains

Northern Panhandle

Shoshone/Lava Beds

Southern Clearwater Mountains

Upper Snake River Plain

Upper Treasure Valley

Upper Weiser River

West Central Mountains

Western Magic Valley

CA:

Greater Lake Tahoe Area

Lassen-Eastern Plumas-Eastern Sierra Counties

Mono

North Central and Southeast Siskiyou County

Northern Trinity

Siskiyou Mountains and Southern Oregon Cascades

South Central Oregon Cascades

South Central Siskiyou County

West Slope Northern Sierra Nevada

Western Plumas County/Lassen Park

Western Siskiyou County

NV:

Greater Lake Tahoe Area

Northern Elko County

Ruby Mountains and East Humboldt Range

South Central Elko County

Southwest Elko County

Coastal Flood Warning

WA:

Central Coast

Coastal Flood Advisory

WA:

Eastern Strait of Juan de Fuca

North Coast

South Washington Coast

Western Strait of Juan De Fuca

High Surf Advisory

WA:

Central Coast

North Coast

South Washington Coast

OR:

Central Coast of Oregon

Clatsop County Coast

Tillamook County Coast

CA:

Catalina and Santa Barbara Islands

Coastal Del Norte

Coastal North Bay Including Point Reyes National Seashore

Los Angeles County Beaches

Malibu Coast

Mendocino Coast

Northern Humboldt Coast

Northern Monterey Bay

San Diego County Coastal Areas

San Francisco

San Francisco Peninsula Coast

San Luis Obispo County Beaches

Santa Barbara County Central Coast Beaches

Santa Barbara County Southeastern Coast

Santa Barbara County Southwestern Coast

Southern Monterey Bay and Big Sur Coast

Southwestern Humboldt

Ventura County Beaches

High Wind Warning

WA:

Admiralty Inlet Area

Central Coast

Clatsop County Coast

North Coast

San Juan County

South Washington Coast

Western Skagit County

Western Whatcom County

Willapa Hills

OR:

Central Coast of Oregon

Central and Eastern Lake County

Clatsop County Coast

Curry County Coast

Modoc County

Northern and Eastern Klamath County and Western Lake County

South Central Oregon Coast

South Washington Coast

Tillamook County Coast

ID:

Orofino/Grangeville Region

CA:

Central and Eastern Lake County

Coastal Del Norte

Modoc County

Northern and Eastern Klamath County and Western Lake County

Wind Advisory

WA:

Admiralty Inlet Area

Bellevue and Vicinity

Bremerton and Vicinity

Central Panhandle Mountains

Coeur d'Alene Area

East Puget Sound Lowlands

Everett and Vicinity

Foothills of the Blue Mountains of Washington

Foothills of the Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon

Hood Canal Area

Idaho Palouse

Lower Chehalis Valley Area

Lower Garfield and Asotin Counties

San Juan County

Seattle and Vicinity

Southwest Interior

Spokane Area

Tacoma Area

Upper Columbia Basin

Washington Palouse

Western Skagit County

Western Whatcom County

OR:

Central Oregon

Eastern Curry County and Josephine County

Foothills of the Blue Mountains of Washington

Foothills of the Northern Blue Mountains of Oregon

Foothills of the Southern Blue Mountains of Oregon

Grande Ronde Valley

Jackson County

North Central Oregon

ID:

Central Panhandle Mountains

Coeur d'Alene Area

Idaho Palouse

Lewis and Southern Nez Perce Counties

Spokane Area

Washington Palouse

CA:

Central Siskiyou County

Del Norte Interior

Greater Reno-Carson City-Minden Area

Interstate 5 Corridor

Northern Humboldt Coast

Northern Humboldt Interior

Northern Ventura County Mountains

Northern Washoe County

Santa Barbara County Interior Mountains

Santa Barbara County Southwestern Coast

Santa Ynez Mountains Eastern Range

Santa Ynez Mountains Western Range

Southern Humboldt Interior

Southern Ventura County Mountains

Southwestern Humboldt

Surprise Valley California

NV:

Greater Reno-Carson City-Minden Area

Northern Washoe County

Surprise Valley California

Hydrologic Outlook

WA:

Grays Harbor

Flood Watch

WA:

Clallam

Flood Warning

WA:

Mason

High Surf Warning

OR:

Curry County Coast

South Central Oregon Coast

Lake Wind Advisory

NV:

Western Nevada Basin and Range including Pyramid Lake

[maris-ocs]

Meet Cherri! A former treasure hunter who decided to settle down on top of a mountain top, self proclaiming herself as a queen. She also really likes pop tarts like Melanie. Perhaps they have more connections? 🤭

She is around 42-43 years old, but that doesn’t stop her from feeling sexy. She spends most of her days, living in her large castle, which is fully of great things to eat, a massive bed, a private hot tub, and a huge garden for her to unwind at. On the next post, I will discuss her lifelong partner, Chelan.

Also fun fact, the 3rd drawing of Cherri was done back in January, hence why her eyes look a little taller, I’ve gotten a lot better at not having my character’s eyes be too big.

[eopederson2]

End of a road leading to the Alpine Lakes Wilderness, Chelan County, 2019.

Sadly on our 2019 trip this was as close to the Enchantments as I could get as we had to be in the BC Gulf Islands two days later.

[exitrowiron]

Beth and I did the 42 mile Lake Loop of the Chelan Rotary Ride. They probably had a few hundred riders doing the variety of distances. The views were spectacular and the route even included a pontoon boat ‘ferry’ courtesy of Rotary members. Beth rode her new e-assist mountain bike which meant I could go as fast as I wanted; unfortunately her battery ran out of juice with a few miles to go. Fortunately she is a good biker and the electronic shifting still worked.

[rabbitcruiser]

Earthquake Point/Broken Mountain, WA

Take a step back in time to December 14, 1872 in what was at that time Washington Territory. Ulysses S. Grant had just been elected president for his second term, and Boston was still recovering from the Great Fire that destroyed much of the city in November of that year. You had to draw water from a well, light your cabin with oil lamps, and typically folks would retire for the night shortly after sundown, when the evening chores were completed, and supper dishes were cleaned.

On that night, at almost 10pm, folks across the region were awakened by a massive earthquake. Contemporary accounts describe the earth rolling from North to South, no jolting bumps, just the feeling like walking on the deck of a ship in rough seas. 

The earthquake impacted an area of the Pacific Northwest over 625,000 miles – from Salem Oregon in the South, to Victoria, BC in the North, across Idaho into Montana and much damage was sustained in the populated areas west of the Cascades. In Seattle buildings rocked, trees shook, items and fell off shelves. Pendulum clocks were stopped by the offsetting rocking, or started up again, if they had been stopped. Plaster walls cracked and lamps tipped over. 

Prior to the event, Lake Union had been flat calm, but the quake caused a tidal wave several feet high. In Olympia there were reports of fireplaces crumbling.

Jack Splawn (also known as Moses Splawn) was a cowboy and resident of Yakima City at that time. He explained that he and the other cowboys on the ranch had just completed the year’s branding and were celebrating at the Sagebrush Saloon, when the building began rocking and they ran outside to see what hoodlums were trying to tip the house over. 

While some folks dealt with milk sloshed out of the pail, and knickknacks falling off the shelf, the residents of North Central Washington, especially indigenous tribes who lived along the Columbia river near Chelan witnessed a far more catastrophic event. It is known locally as “the night the mountain fell.”

As you drive along Highway 97A just past Entiat on your way to Chelan, there is a roadside pullout and marker explaining “Earthquake Point.” Here you can view what the native people named “Ribbon Cliffs”. A giant portion of the hillside of Broken Mountain fell into the Columbia river that night. Of course, the river was not as high then as it is now, as the hydroelectric projects along the river have raised it, however, the amount of earth and granite that fell blocked the river and flooded the lands behind it, including the ranch of the Wapato family. You might recognize that tribal name from the peninsula of land at Lake Chelan, called Wapato Point. 

At some point the following day the water broke through the earthen dam, the flood receded, and the river began to flow again. It must have been a sight to behold if you lived in Wenatchee to wake up to a dry riverbed! Witnesses to the event reported that it took several days for the earthen dam to break up and the river to return to its previous level. 

While there was no seismologic equipment in place seventeen years before Washington became a state, experts studying the damage and geologic features believe the quake was between 6.5 and 7.5 in magnitude. That makes it one of the largest on record in the state. 

For 143 years it was a mystery where the epicenter of this earthquake could be found. In 2015 geologist Brian Sherrod painstakingly surveyed a canyon between Chelan and Entiat, where he found a fault and was able to definitively prove it to be the source of the quake. 

Source

[mmaxywaxy]

Chelan, WA 03/2023

[primordialsoundmeditation]

Before you sleep tonight,

Consider all

the night-blooming flowers

opening this moment

before the moon.

Consider all the owls

leaping off their branches

to fly on silent wings

into the night.

Consider the earthen majesty

of the combined dreams

of the forest.

Consider the light exchanged

between the stars

in their great web

of the night.

Consider the sentience

within each living thing~

everything alive

with reverence.

Consider the ancient temple

of the hills

and the monks

that are the mountains

donning their silhouetted robes

to hold vigil for you

each night.

Consider all

the god inside of you tends to

while you sleep

with such tenderness

and incredible intelligence~

organizing your whole

inner life,

soothing its edges,

doing all it might

to make you more

hospitable to love.

Consider, the whirlers

up all night to dance

their prayers

while the dervish planets

do the same.

Let the lullaby of the worldwide

chorus of crickets

wrap itself around you tonight.

Be held

by the blanket of stars.

Sleep well, my dear.

All existence is spun of magic

and you are outside

of nothing.

Receive all the blessings this earth

is perpetually trying to give you

And rest soundly

on a deep bed

of awe

and thanks.

By Chelan Harkin

Artist Franz von Stuck - Shooting Stars, 1912

The Heirloom Gardener John Forti