Finding a friend on Desolation Peak
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/outdoors/2012838901_nwwdesolation09.html
Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac spent a summer in a fire lookout
on Desolation Peak in the North Cascades in the 1950s. A recent visit
found a very different caretaker there.
September 8, 2010
By John Kinmonth
Our engine sputtered. Then it died. I looked at my wife. She stared
back. Perfect.
We were eight miles up remote Ross Lake with a lifeless two-stroke
engine. Even on the hottest summer weekend of the year, we had passed
a total of five boats and three of them were canoes. We were dead
in the water.
"Maybe a ranger will pass by," I said hopefully.
Surrounded by rugged North Cascade peaks on all sides, we felt the
carbon karma for relying on 9.9 units of horsepower rather than two
units of human power. With no cellphone reception or radios, we
couldn't even update our Facebook status or Twitter for help.
Instead, I did what most clueless guys do and started pretending to
examine the engine. After a thorough diagnosis, I told my wife,
Bethanne, with a reasonable degree of confidence, "It's not working."
As a fan of silent sports, I would have much preferred a good,
old-fashioned canoe or kayak on these holy waters. But this trip was
different. We were on a mission. We were searching for Jack Kerouac.
Dotting the Cascades, historic fire lookouts were the early warning
system for forest-fire crews. In the summer of 1956, Kerouac the
"Beat Generation" author spent 63 days in the 14-by-14-foot shack
on top of the North Cascades' 6,102-foot Desolation Peak (referenced
in "The Dharma Bums," "Desolation Angels," and "The Lonesome
Traveler"). He scribbled in his notebook. He meditated. He smoked
cigarettes a lot of them.
Getting there
Although the climb to the top of Desolation Peak isn't terribly hard
if you can handle four miles of unrelenting steep switchbacks, just
getting to the fjordlike waters of Ross Lake is an exercise in logistics.
Kerouac hitchhiked. We drove a Ford wagon. After passing what Kerouac
aptly described as the "rich butterfat valleys" of the Stillaguamish
and the Skagit rivers, you can portage a boat from Diablo Lake, hike
down from Highway 20 via Ross Lake Dam or East Bank Trail, take the
Diablo Lake Ferry, or drive around to the north end of the lake near
Hope, B.C., and launch a boat. And don't forget to pick up your
backcountry permit at the Marblemount Ranger Station for one of the
free boat-in camping sites along the lake. It's a little complicated, OK.
For the sake of economy and allowing more time for the climb, we
opted for the hike down from Highway 20 and a boat rental from Ross
Lake Resort.
After serving our powerboat penance through 20 minutes of desperate
cord pulling and throttle gunning, we were able to limp the boat to
the Desolation Peak trailhead approximately 12 miles up the lake.
Wasting no time, we hoofed it up the lonely path, which starts
climbing almost immediately from the boat dock. The only other hikers
we passed were a sickeningly fit, middle-aged French Canadian couple
in matching gear coming down the mountain.
Finding company
Ascending through the lower-elevation forest for two hours, we
finally hit the upper meadow that afforded views of the surrounding
valleys and miles of unbelievable mountains "grooking" on all
horizons Kerouac occasionally made up words.
When we finally topped out at the peak, I expected an empty lookout
similar to most of the decommissioned fire lookouts in the country.
Instead, a tattooed man with a Marine haircut smiled and opened the door.
"Welcome to the Desolation fire lookout," he said.
In a stroke of luck, North Cascades National Park Superintendent Chip
Jenkins happened to be on the summit, too, with his wife and two
young sons. Daniel Otero, the lookout, was as surprised as we were,
and slightly embarrassed about his crisp laundry hanging neatly on a
line off the back of the historic structure.
Rather than finding a feral artist scrawling existential manuscripts
in his lonely lookout, we were surprised to learn that Otero was a
proud Marine reservist who had already served two tours in Iraq with
an artillery unit. He hasn't read much Kerouac just a couple of
chapters and he shaves every day.
Kind and soft-spoken, Otero immediately invited us inside and showed
us his digs for the summer. He demonstrated how to use the Osborne
Fire Finder, an instrument used to locate coordinates of possible
fires. The war may still be lingering in Iraq, but Otero might as
well be on a different planet. Working on a natural-resources degree
in Spokane, he applied for the job to fulfill a program requirement,
and was chosen from more than 70 applicants. Actually, it was Jenkins
who hired him and this was their first face-to-face meeting.
Jenkins brought peanut-butter bars and a puppy named Rocket.
Otero was 34 the same age as Kerouac in 1956. They slept on the
same rope-framed bed ("to avoid lightning strikes"). They both lived
under the intimidating twin-peaked hulk of Hozomeen Mountain,
dominating the view at 8,066 feet.
But while Kerouac longed for enlightenment, a liquor store and women,
Otero had one thing on his mind when we asked about the hardships of
lonely living on a harsh mountaintop: food.
More specifically, meat lots of it. Oh, and a shower.
"I experimented with sponge bathing, but it just isn't the same," he
said with a laugh. Side note: He looked markedly cleaner than many a
college student with ample access to running water.
Also, unlike Kerouac, he could stomach returning to his guard shack
among the clouds for another summer. When asked if he would do it
again, he didn't hesitate: "Definitely."
But if you happen to be planning a trip to the historic lookout on
Desolation Peak Otero's there until late September for God's
sake, bring the man a hamburger.
--
If You Go
Desolation Peak
Where
From Interstate 5 in Skagit County, take Highway 20 east to the Ross
Lake Dam trailhead near Milepost 134. Hike one mile down to the Ross
Lake Resort access phone. Rent a boat or arrange a ferry to
trailhead. Travel approximately 12 miles up the lake to Desolation
Peak trailhead.
To access trailhead on foot, from Milepost 138 hike 16 miles along
the East Bank Trail.
Boat rental
Boat rental from Ross Lake Resort (open mid-June through October) is
$95 a day plus tax for a 14-foot boat with outboard; $30 for canoes,
or $40 to $55 for kayaks; some discounts in June and October. For
more info and other access options, see www.rosslakeresort.com or
call 206-386-4437.
Required reading
Required reading: "The Dharma Bums" and "Desolation Angels," by Jack
Kerouac, and "Poets on the Peaks" by John Suiter.
Park info
For more trail information:
www.nps.gov/noca/planyourvisit/desolation-peak-trail.htm.
Get a free (but mandatory) backcountry camping permit at the
Wilderness Information Center in Marblemount. Call 360-854-7245 for
directions and hours.
.
0 comments:
Post a Comment