STEVENS PASS — Forest Service ranger Nan Lammers stopped as a pine marten bounded across her path. It was a good time for a chat about mountain wildlife.
The weasel-like animal’s tracks are easy to spot in fresh snow since their back feet land in the print left by their front paws, she said.
Along with the snowshoe hare, martens weren’t the only ones making tracks along the Pacific Crest Trail at Stevens Pass.
On a recent sunny Saturday afternoon, Lammers led a group of 15 women from Snohomish County on a three-hour, nearly three-mile snowshoe hike from the summit of the 4,061-foot pass down the trail and back.
Most of the women, who know each other from work at OptionCare in Everett and from Alderwood Community Church, were on their first snowshoe trek. The hike usually takes less time and covers less ground, but these gals, many in their early 50s, were ready to have fun.
“It’s great to have groups of people who are into it,” Lammers said. “It’s a little more difficult when I take out a family with a teen who would rather be snowboarding.”
Lammers offers the tours for ages 6 and older on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the winter. Her presentation and the use of snowshoes is free, but Lammers suggests a $10 donation to offset the cost of the interpretive program.
The group of women gathered at noon in the 80-year-old Forest Service guard station to hear Lammers talk about the history of Stevens Pass.
It’s noteworthy, the ranger said, that this year marks the 100th anniversary of the nation’s deadliest avalanche, locally known as the Wellington disaster.
On March 1, 1910, about 100 people died when an avalanche swept away and crushed two trains in the small railroad town of Wellington, just west of the pass and just outside the railroad tunnel through the mountain, Lammers said.
When the Great Northern Railroad was first built in the 1890s through the then-remote Stevens Pass, trains ran up and down the mountains on a series of switchbacks. Some of those abandoned railroad grades remain, and one stretch is part of the Pacific Crest Trail.
This is the path where Lammers leads her snowshoe trekkers.
Lammers, 52, grew up in north Seattle and loved hiking with her family in the Cascade Range. It seemed natural that later in life she would find jobs such as park ranger, wilderness ranger, interpretive guide, firefighter and Mount Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest guide at the Skykomish Ranger Station.
Lammers has run the snowshoe trek program at Stevens for years. When she started, she outfitted people in Army surplus wooden snowshoes, the kind that look like oversized tennis racquets. Now Lammers and her volunteer assistant, Katie Parsons, distribute an easy-to-use plastic snowshoe with tough metal traction teeth for tackling changes in terrain.
For many of the women on the recent tour, the toughest part of the trek was leaning over to put the snowshoes on.
Bonnie Medema, 53, of Everett and her sister-in-law, Debbie Medema, 53, of Marysville, brought along their cameras and took lots of photos. Married to brothers, the women enjoy getting outdoors together.
“I love the sunshine and this is a great way to get some low-impact exercise on a beautiful winter day,” Bonnie said.
Downhill and Nordic skiing and snowboarding are all great winter activities, but snowshoeing is less expensive, still offers exercise and allows a person to slow down and take note of nature, Lammers said.
Walking down the trail, the unexperienced snowshoers were surprised to find that they were hiking on nearly 7 feet of snow.
Allie Dykes, 22, of Everett and her mother Lynn Dykes, 55, do a lot of recreational activities together.
“Snowshoeing is a lot different than I expected,” Allie said. “If you walk off the beaten path, you get a good workout. I am stoked to buy some snowshoes now.”
Lammers stopped periodically on the tour to offer tidbits of information: Black bears don’t truly hibernate; the snowshoe hare turns white because of seasonal hormonal changes, not snowfall; trees at this high elevation include the Alaska yellow cedar.
And yodeling does not cause avalanches.
This is the time of year when avalanches can be a problem, Lammers said. Nordic skiers and snowshoers are encouraged to stay in forested areas on paths that rangers monitor for avalanche activity.
In her backpack, Lammers always carries a collapsible snow shovel and probe, and an analog beacon and beeper. She hopes she never has to use them, but she’s always prepared.
With an afternoon full of new experiences, the women decided to turn back to the ranger station at the summit. Lammers again led the way, taking long strides and enjoying the late afternoon air.
On the way back up the trail, Sheryl Knowles, 53, of Marysville, wondered out loud what everybody was thinking:
“How old is Ranger Nan?”
Lammers just smiled.
“I’ve been doing this a long time,” she said.
Strap on your snowshoes
Make reservations for the Forest Service snowshoe treks at Stevens Pass by calling the Skykomish Ranger Station, 360-677-2414, 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday. The easy one-mile hikes are offered noon to 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays through March 28 from the guard station at Stevens Pass. Information on the shuttle bus from Sultan to Stevens Pass is at www.stevenspass.com.
Commemoration
The 100-year commemoration of the Wellington disaster is 1 p.m. Feb. 27 at the Skykomish School. The event is sponsored by the Skykomish Historical Society. Gary Krist, author of “The White Cascade,” plans to speak.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
