Snowshoeing walks begin soon at passes
Published 9:00 pm Friday, December 26, 2003
Snow levels are building up at Snoqualmie and Stevens passes and so is the anticipation for the Forest Service’s annual guided snowshoe walks.
Like everything else, the cost of the once-free walk-and-talk is creeping up and up.
The Forest Service would love to educate you about winter ecology, but it’ll cost a suggested donation of $10.
I quote from a Forest Service press release: "Snowshoes are provided for all participants in the walks. To offset the costs of the program a donation of $10.00 per person is suggested to maintain the snowshoes and compensate the interpreters."
Do the interpreters get paid anyway if your family can only afford $4-5 apiece? Tackle that issue when you register.
The 90-minute walks are at a moderate pace with time allowed for teaching of basic snowshoeing techniques, a bit of area history and winter ecology.
The weekend walks are held at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Stevens Pass walks along the Pacific Crest Trail are Jan. 10-Feb. 29; Snoqualmie’s walks run Jan. 17-March 28.
Dress appropriately with layered clothes that will still insulate your body when wet. Sturdy, waterproof boots, hats and gloves are recommended.
Reservations are required; group size is limited.
At Stevens Pass, walks are provided by the Skykomish Ranger District of the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Meet at the Forest Service Guard Station in parking lot A of the Stevens Pass Ski Area. Look for the blue signs to the meeting spot.
To reserve, call 360-677-2414, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. weekdays.
For the Snoqualmie Pass outing, meet at the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest’s visitor information center at the summit, located off I-90 at exit 52.
To make reservations before Jan. 17, call 425-888-1421, ext. 242; Jan. 17 or later, call the information center, 425-434-6111.
Children under 10 can not be accommodated.
There’s that magic number.
WHACKOS. That’s right, the Washington Hearty and Able Cross-Cutting Organization, Washington Trail Association trail crew leaders and Forest Service employees, will continue the tradition of spending New Year’s Eve in the Boulder River Wilderness for a fun day of cross-cutting downed logs.
This year will be more challenging than some — recent storm damage has laid 22 logs across the Boulder Creek Trail.
George Winters, a wilderness ranger out of Darrington, sharpens antique two-person saws, each about an eight-hour labor of love.
WORTH A LOOK. The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife has a new Web site address, thanks to the agency moving its Web site to its own server in a cost-saving measure.
The site offers current news on Fish and Wildlife Commission actions, recreational opportunities, research projects and fish and wildlife management.
It’s wdfw.wa.gov.
One virtue of the site is the wildlife-related links, such as the one to Tweeters.
There you might even find folks you know.
Dec. 22’s submissions from birders included a Lake Stevens resident sharing a bit from his part in the Everett Christmas Bird Count, an urban wildlife biologist with Fish and Wildlife department in Mill Creek and a vulture expert from Bothell discussing nest-box installation, and another area birder describing a great blue heron’s 17-minute fight to swallow a fish, complete with whacking and gurgling, near Snohomish.
LOVE BLACK DIAMOND RUNS? Appreciate an adrenalin rush? Then you’re in line to enjoy Michael Finkel’s "Alpine Circus: A Skier’s Exotic Adventures at the Snowy Edge of the World" ($14.95, Lyons Press).
Tales from a dozen winters and six continents will leave you appreciating the comforts of local ski areas while feeding that yearning to explore from your armchair.
A little deeper writing (with an assist from Zen philosophy) can be found in Neville Shulman’s "Some Like It Cold" ($14.95, Lyons), tales of Arctic and Antarctic expeditions.
Shulman recounts his two cold-bound trips, one to the North Pole, following in the footsteps of naturalist sculptor Andy Goldsworthy, and the other an Antarctic adventure to raise money for the Red Cross.
While "Circus" describes the adventure, "Cold" offers far more in way of understanding the nature of the two poles and the wildlife.
If choosing one or the other, take "Some Like It Cold."
Columnist Sharon Wootton can be reached at 360-468-3964 or www.songandword.com.
