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At the relatively young age of 66 and 11 months, I have enjoyed thinking
back to my earlier days with The Club. I joined when 12, back in 1947, and
had a lot of fun with the group. |
| At the onset of adolescence, I didn't feel
very connected to my school and at 4'7" tall, perhaps that's why I didn't
seem to fit in with the school sports, which were simplified forms of
football, basketball, and some batting and running bases in a version of
baseball. |
The Club's
focus were on fellowship in the outdoors: hiking and camping and
some social events like the ones we have today, and trail work. We used to
help keep some of the trails up in the MBNF,
too.
With the war and all, lots of maintenance was necessarily deferred and The
District didn't have much in the way of manpower or budget. We also had the
responsibility of doing what we could to keep Kulshan Cabin structurally
sound, and of course to clean it, keep up the emergency food and blankets
box, and empty the stove ashes; plus the winterizing and opening each
season. We carpooled to save gas and tires, and so it was practical for us
all to get out without using very much money. After the skiers split off,
and with the War, there were not many folks around to do the chores.
My closest friends in the Club in those years were Vint
and Loretta Groot, and J.J. "Count" Dolan and Dorothy Schuyler amongst the adults, and Delmar
Anderson who was much closer to my own age. My hero was C. F. "Happy"
Fisher, a friendly nickname established by some of his 'cutup' Club friends,
because he so seldom smiled.
It was Happy or 'Hap' who showed me the Fisher Chimneys, and drew a little
sketch map of how best to do Shuksan in July. (That was later on, and after
I got a nylon climbing rope and snow goggles!)
I remember working on the Trail and the Cabin, and the picnics we had up on
the Hogsback in mid day, which were great fun, and featured lots of mild
horseplay and kidding around. And then there were the hikes we annually
repeated: Church Mtn. to call on the lookout lady; Winchester and camping at
Twin Lakes when the road was passable (in those days the Lone Jack Mine, and
sometimes the Red Mountain and Silvertip Mines were operating enough so the
road was in decent shape); Goat, Welcome (hah!) Pass, Table Mountain toward
Camp Kiser, Lake Ann, and Heliotrope Ridge were good weather season
favorites.
With gas tight, and very little money, we would take the Greyhound to
Seattle once every year or so, to buy stuff at REI Coop. In those days, it
was open Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, and was located upstairs in a
small building not too far from the Bus Depot at 8th and Stewart. We'd plan
the trip so we could go down on the 11 o'clock and come back on the 4:10 on
one of those days, phoning the week ahead to be sure REI was going to be
open one or both of those days the next week. I got my first ice axe, and my
crampons and forged iron pitons (all five of them) from Austria in that
little store. What a Godsend it was to those of us who wanted to try a
little rock climbing, and to play around on the crevasses at Shuksan and
Baker---and eventually to climb them.
After getting the crampons and such, we actually climbed both Baker and The Shuk; my
ascents were in college days with my then roommate and friend Mike Roberts,
of California. Delmar climbed too, but I don't recall the details.
When I 'left Town' for awhile for high school and
college, I only hiked when I was home, but it was one of the highpoints of my life, and continued so
until the present day. With some other challenges to address, I don't get
out nearly as often as I would like, but I come when I can and like all the
rest of the gang, I know I am always welcome and will always have a good
time and good fellowship, with warm and cheerful friends, old and new.
----
Earl Cilley, March 18, 2002
Email address: ecilley@stanford.edu
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