Wagonmasters, Ed & Jeanette
Block, chose Grandy Creek Resort (an
award-winning, KOA/Thousand Trails campground in Concrete, WA)
for this rally -- to enjoy the rugged beauty and challenges
of the North Cascades – and to
celebrate the club’s 5th FMCA Chapter anniversary.
The weather couldn’t have been better with warm, sunny
days and starry skies for every evening campfire.
21 couples in
attendance: (From Washington, Oregon, N. Calif., SW
Alaska & B.C. Canada):
Anderson, Baker, Block, Bohn, Beers,
Eddy, Freer, Harris, Helminiak, Keppler, Lindhorst,
Nicholson, Paschall/Braden,
Piispanen, Rawson, Shackell, Stafford, Turner, Walton,
Williams & Wright.
Day 1 – By
mid-day, all rally coaches had arrived -- many couples coming
from a memorable NWTFC rally hosted by Stan & Barbara Shackell,
in Vancouver, B.C. As dinnertime approached, all
gathered for a lawn-chair happy hour. Everyone brought
terrific potluck dishes and desserts for an outstanding buffet.
The group had the benefit of a fine kitchen and clubhouse
seating, but the warm weather encouraged some to sit in the
covered picnic area as well. Sedro Woolley FD’s deputy chief,
Todd Olson, & his wife were pleased to join us, prior to his
arranged demo of current CPR and defibrillator
use.
Day 2
offered plenty of time for folks to relax
or take to the trails of nearby Baker Lake Road. Twelve couples
headed for the “Shadow of the Sentinels” old-growth
forest and the magnificent view of 10,000’ Mt. Baker at Boulder
Creek Bridge. The group also hiked to a 'bouncy' suspension
bridge over crystal clear waters -- an opportunity to bring out
the ‘little boy’ in our men. There was a productive
business meeting that afternoon and all enjoyed fine Italian
food at a local favorite, Annie’s Pizza Station.
We decorated the
Grandy Creek meeting room with balloons & streamers for the chapter's
5th anniversary party that followed.
All enjoyed delicious carrot cake, Tillamook ice cream
and raspberry sherbet fruit punch. Nine of
the original couples listed on the chapter’s FMCA charter were
present and acknowledged by President, Stan Shackell. Judy
Keppler, our FMCA NW Area President,
congratulated the club -- presenting Stan with a certificate for
the club’s records. We were honored that Judy and husband, Ron,
joined in all the rally activities and our celebration.
Day 3 started out bright & early
with a generous Continental breakfast. Eighteen
couples were soon on the road through America’s Alps for a day
of adventure. North Cascades National Park’s
Diablo Lake Lookout and
Washington Pass Lookout provided memorable
vistas to photograph, stretch legs & enjoy picnics.
From there, the group parted. Half continued on to
Winthrop for lunch and tourist-pleasing
shops along its Western boardwalks. At the Shafer
Museum, we learned of the region’s rich history
and viewed rooms of well-preserved items depicting life in the
early 1900’s as well as sheds with buckboards, early
automobiles, farm machinery -- and mining equipment.
The museum was given a good rally donation as they had
opened ‘off-season’ for us that day.
Others carpooled in
4x4 vehicles to Mazama and on to Hart’s Pass & 7900’ Slate Peak
(highest, narrow forest-service road in the state) for a 360
degree view of the North Cascades – but as (poor) luck would
have it, 400’ from the summit a chilly, marine flow shrouded the
mountain tops and our adventurous off-roaders' view in thick
cloud cover. A ‘fun run’ nevertheless!
The groups converged
later for our tour at the North Cascades
Smokejumpers Base. Jason
Ramos, a smokejumper with 20 years with the forest service and
five as a jumper, was an excellent guide. With many forest fires
being fought, he was the only one at this NW base who wasn’t on
assignment that day. He proudly shared the
program’s amazing 70-year history and daunting expectations of
individual jumpers. Requirements are so stringent, only 490
total smokejumpers currently are qualified for this work at 8
such bases nationwide. They are expected to
complete their fire-fighting or rescue task and hike out of the
forest with up to 130# in their packs -- jumpsuit, chute,
equipment & supplies. Jason
explained a jumper’s responsibility for making needed clothing &
parachute repairs & the re-packing of their chutes. A video
covered their workouts and training with full dome chutes for
pinpoint descents from 1500’ in steep, rocky and wooded terrain.
Interesting facts regarding the spotter’s duties were
shared as we were aboard the team’s airplane. The
plane would drop the jumpers’ fire-fighting gear and
life-sustaining food & water from low altitude as accuracy was
critical. Other than this drop, little (if any)
assistance is available to these incredibly capable jumpers.
A rally donation was made to their effort and several of
our people bought Smokejumper T-shirts.
Some couples stayed
for dinner in Winthrop and others stopped for a good meal in
Marblemount. The night skies silhouetted
spectacular, mountain peaks on the long drive back to camp. We
were grateful to those who had made an inviting campfire to
enjoy upon our return.
Day
4 – Remaining breakfast goodies were enjoyed another
day, and several of us women created pretty, ribbon-tied,
photo albums with Lois Piispanen’s guidance.
The class continued after the day’s "Diablo
Dam Good Dinner Tour". By noon
our carpools arrived in Newhalem where we boarded
Skagit Tour buses. The narrow canyon road brought us to Diablo
Dam for a spectacular cruise on lovely, glacier-fed Diablo Lake.
Seattle City Light’s hydroelectric project (Gorge, Diablo
& Ross dams) has long served the city of Seattle.
We had a memorable time aboard
the Alice Ross III and our
skipper gave Ron & Ginny Rawson a special treat, diverting the
boat from its route to see the “Cascadian” up close! – a boat
built by Ron’s company in ’84 to serve SCL tours. A tasty
home-style chicken dinner followed in the company-town of
Diablo.
The final campfire brought out
good stories and jokes from even our newest member, Tom (&
Brenda) Walton. Ed & Jeanette thanked the many who had helped
make their rally such a success! A final 5th
hole was punched in each couple’s “QuickDraw Poker”
envelope. Discovering three aces
in their 'poker hand' insert, Rodger & Colleen Wright claimed
the $50 cash prize!
Submitted by J. Block
