Mount Baker Club -
the founding fathers of the Ski to Sea Race
100 Years - A Centennial Celebration Centennial News is updated each month - Leading to 2011
1952
Photo Venton E. Groot & J.J. "Count" Dolan
October 4, 2007 - Dated September 25,
1952, this photo shows Vinton E. Groot, and J.J. "Count" Dolan, very active
members of the club. Not sure, but I think the photo was taken
locally, in one of those years' super-early snows. They are standing
on a snowpile, up at Mt. Baker way, I believe, in Glacier.
They were
long time members, and pillars of the Club in those days.
Count was retired in his early 70's, and Vint was still
barbering at his shop in downtown Bellingham---as I recall it
was near "Frank's Place" on Railroad, perhaps the space now
occupied by "Tommy the Tailer"
Click Here for Full Photo>>>
Super friends and hiking
companions from a kid on up...
June 2007 -
Twin
Falls--named by the Mt. Baker Club committee, after the opening of the
Glacier-Mt. Baker Trail;, 500 ft. drop (estimated). On Lookout Creek,
dividing into two distinct falls, as if one were not beauty enough, the
trail passing close in to the foot of them.
Courtesy of Whatcom Museum of History &
Art
1911
ASCENT OF MT. BAKER IS HERCULANEAN TASK
May 2007 - Read the typed account by Charles Easton
taken from Bellingham Daily Herald, August 6, 1911 regarding Mount Baker
Marathon race planning that year.
Well Known Local Authority Points Out Dangers and Trials of Journey When
Made in Attempt to Cut Down Time Limit -- Like Climbing Flight of Stairs Two
Miles in Height. More >>>
1916
Club Proposes Mt. Baker National Park
April 2007 - Do you
know who was a member of the
Mount Baker Club in 1928? Well, maybe you have a
friend of a friend who was with us in 1928. The
roster is one
image, it make take 1 minute to load on your computer. If
you want to print it, it's easier as one page.
The
Mt. Baker Scrapbook was compiled by Charles F. Easton,
club member and historian of the Mount Baker Club and his wife Ada Hamilton Easton. In 1916,
Charles Easton took this scrapbook to Washington D.C. to lobby for the bill
to establish the Mount Baker National Park in the State of Washington. The
proposed legislation died of neglect with the advent of United States entry
into the First World War.
October 14, 1932 Club Meeting Minutes - George Hipkoe, editor of the Rambler, reported that
Vol. 1 of the bulletin was now ready to be bound. It was moved by
Harrison McAdams, seconded by Mary Hibner, that this volume be dedicated to
the late Charles F. Easton, and that a copy be placed in the Public Library
in addition to the official club copy. The motion was unanimously
passed.
Mt. Baker Scrapbook Click
Here for Full Story at Whatcom Museum
"Mt. Baker — Its Trails and Legends: A Chronology of the Discovery,
Exploration, Improvement, Study and Development of the Great Koma Kulshan of
the Lummis" is a scrapbook album, composed of materials dated between
1868-1941. It is a large format scrapbook with 261 (19 x 24") pages of hand
drawn maps, black & white and hand tinted photographs, watercolor paintings,
pen and ink line drawings, illustrations, text and index. The information
chronicles early ascents and expeditions, the Mt. Baker Marathon, eruptions,
and forest rangers of the district. Illustrations document pristine views,
specific outings, wild life, glaciers, ice caves, lakes, trees, and
mountains of the area. The scrapbook contains historic, scientific,
botanical, geologic and other information about the mountain
1911
& 1966
- The Birth of the Ski to Sea Race
March 2007-
The Mount Baker Club initiated the Mount
Baker Marathon Race in 1911. It was reincarnated in the
1970's as the Ski to Sea Race. Read how the Ski to Sea
Race developed out of a
letter to the Bellingham Chamber of Commerce on December 12,
1966.
1911 Mount Baker Marathon Photos
Top-Hugh Diehl in automobile in 1911
Middle-North & South Routes to Mt. Baker
Bottom-Joe Galbraith running in woods.
1st
Centennial Celebration a Success at Museum
Day Dedicated to Gary Haufle
Led Effort to Restore Winchester Lookout
February 2007 -
View
archived photos of Winchester Lookout Restoration in 1982,
by Center for Pacific Northwest Studies.
A
large crowd estimated between seventy and eighty attended the
February 11th presentation of the Mount Baker Club at the Whatcom
Museum. This was the first Centennial Celebration event for
the club. Chris Engelhardt, President, dedicated the day to
Gary Haufle, who led the effort to restore the Winchester Lookout.
Gary suddenly passed away last November. He had been planning
to be at the event. The presentation focused on club history,
and how the club helped to establish some of Whatcom County's most
treasured and scenic areas.
The club will be holding community events over the next four years,
to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of the club and the Mount
Baker Marathon. Come back for more stories about how the club
was formed, and why the Mount Baker Marathon was considered the
biggest race on the west coast.
HISTORY
MOUNT
BAKER CLUB DEEDS HISTORICAL PAPERS TO WESTERN
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Archived Photos
Ski
to Sea Race started with the Mount Baker
Marathon in 1911 Sponsored by the Mount
Baker Club -
Bellingham Herald Article
Earl
joined the club in the 1940's and is still a
member today. -
Read his story
Winchester Lookout
In addition to our busy schedule of outings, the club maintains the historic Winchester fire-watch lookout on Winchester Mtn.
More >>>
Click
for Enlargement
Twice a year we carry up supplies, clean, paint, and do what ever general maintenance needs doing to keep the lookout in tip-top condition. The lookout is open for public use on a first come first serve basis, however, the club reserves the use of the lookout for the lookout work parties. We try to give as much notice as we can. Call the USFS Glacier Information Center or contact Mel at 360-392-1015.
WINCHESTER DONATIONS
The Board thanks the following individuals
for their generous donations to the Mount
Baker Club’s Winchester Fund:
WINCHESTER DONATIONS
The Board thanks the following individuals
for their generous donations to the Mount Baker Club's Winchester Fund.
Donations to Winchester Lookout Fund made in Memory of Gary Haufle:
Anita McCullough, $25
David and Christina LaBelle, $15
Virginia and Jerry Lowe, $15
Carl and Ruth Hoth, $10
Leanne Farkas, $20
Shawn Robins Family-$13
Fritz and Illse Weimann, $20
Duane and Ann Sammons, $100
Ben Strom, B'ham $20
The Young's, Seattle $10
Erin Donahue, B'ham $3
The Erbotoeszer's, Mt Vernon $10
Neal Jacques, Seahurst $10
Bill Atkinson, Stanwood $20
Jeff Ries, Lynden $25
Robert Deimel, Maple Falls $25
The Hutchersons, N. Carolina $50
Each will receive a complimentary copy
of our club newsletter, the Rambler.
Thank You!
Join the Club!
Help us maintain the lookout by sending donations to:
Winchester Lookout Fund
C/O Mount Baker Club
P.O. Box 73
Bellingham WA 98227
On
September 26, 2001, the Mount Baker Club
conveyed, by deed of gift, its significant
papers, club documents, photo and news
scrapbooks, Ramblers and minutes of its meetings
from 1928 to present to Western Washington
University for use at the Center for Pacific
Northwest Studies. Archivist Elizabeth Joffrion
(Ruth Steele is present Archivist),
in accepting the material for Western, stated
that much of the collection has local historical
significance and would greatly enhance the
University'’ research and studies of the
region.
From the inception of the Mount Baker Club in
1911 out of an idea by Charles F. Easton, a
Bellingham jeweler, to promote the Mount Baker
area as a national resource, and for formally
since 1928, the club has maintained and kept
complete and accurate records of its activities
in documents, pictures, minutes of meetings,
Rambler newsletters (first published in August
1928), books and periodicals.
For more than 90 years the Mount Baker Club has
actively and continuously explored, hiked, and
skied, maintained trails and lookouts, camped,
biked and canoed the Great Koma Kulshan of the
Lummi’s (steep white mountain) area. Thanks to
the foresight and efforts of Easton and the
initial organizers of the club, the Mount Baker
area is today one of the premier recreation
landmarks in the Cascade Range.
The Center for Pacific Northwest Studies is
located in the Washington
State Archives Building
Ruth Steele, Acting Archivist
Contact for All Reference Requests
Phone: (360) 650-7747 Fax: (360)650-3323
Email:
Ruth.Steele@wwu.edu
(25th and Bill McDonald Parkway in Bellingham
360-650-7747)
The Center for Pacific Northwest Studies
encourages club members, students, and the
general public to examine the collection at any
time. Weekday hours are 8:30 am to 4:30 pm. An
inventory of the collection will soon be
accessible on the Center’s web page
http://www.acadweb.wwu.edu/cpnws/mbclub/mbclubtitle.htm
Club members who have club material (old
Ramblers, letters, pictures, newspaper articles,
artifacts or documents they believe would add
significantly to the collection), please contact
club Trustee Larry Ripes at 360-715-3303.
