From the Summit of Rainier To Camp

The view from the summit of Mt. Rainier is expansive. If the brown fog of pollution from the Puget Sound basin is at an ebb, one can see beyond Mt. Baker which lies 200 miles to the north. To the south, Mt. Jefferson in central Oregon clearly pokes its snowy carpace skyward. Eastward the expanse of eastern Washington trails off into the distance, and to the west the haze of the moist coastal air obscures the view beyond the coastal mountains. The summit itself is not a point of rock, or a knife edged ridge befitting a jagged peak of the North Cascades. Rather it is a rounded, broad hump of snow, very much like the mountain itself. Imagine a chrome, half-moon hub cap turned hollow side up and tilted slightly so that one edge is higher than the rest. Fill that hub cap with snow so that it overflows on the higher end, then expand it to about 1/2 a mile wide and you have a fair picture of the summit terrain of Mt. Rainier.

From Mt. Rainier’s summit crater flow glaciers radially outward. To the south flow the Kautz, the Ingraham and the Nisqually, to the west the Tahoma and Ptarmigan, to the north the Winthrop and Carbon, to the east the Emmons. These masses of accumulated snow slowly grind downslope, gouging the underlying mountain. As they find rock a little softer than some, they carve quickly, in geologic terms, and soon valleys and ridges begin to form. The ridges shed their wintery snow accumulation quickly due to wind and sun. Their erosion slows. But the glaciers in the valleys continue to grind away, deepening and widening their troughs.

The Emmons Glacier, flowing down the Northeast side of the mountain is remarkable in size. It is the largest glacier, both in length and breadth on the mountain and in the contiguous United States. Climbing onto its rock strewn snout at an elevation of 3500 feet, 10,500 feet of additional altitude over a distance of nearly 7 miles is needed to gain the summit. Although the straight distance may be 7 miles, the travel distance is much further, for the entire length of the glacier is cut by innumeral crevasses running at right angles to the direction of travel. It is a winding course to weave a path between these gaping, ice blue cracks as the glacial heights are mounted.

The snout of the Emmons Glacier extends far below tree line, so that a hiker working his way up a path through stands of massive Douglas Fir, Western Hemlock and Western Red Cedar can pause and look down to see the snout of the glacier passing in the valley below. From the snout of the glacier issues a stream of silt and rock laden water. This water looks like diluted milk. This milky stream tumbles and jumps over the boulders strewn about the area of the glacier’s snout before gathering up its rivulets and joining forces to form one water course, the White River. The White River gathers other streams as it speeds downward away from the mountain.

About 15 miles from the glacier’s end it passes beneath a bridge of cable and wood, suspended between a tower on the north bank and a wooden support embedded in the bank on the south side. The bridge design is simple. Two thick cables are strung across the river, short cables of smaller diameter are hung from these at regular intervals. These short cables have tied to their ends wooden beams, creating the effect of a series of childhood swings marching across the river suspended from the two thick cables. Across these “swings” are layed the bridge. It is not the first time the river is crossed after leaving the glacier, nor is it the last. But this bridge carries with it a special characteristic. It is a portal for hikers. On the north bank of the river lies a camp soley devoted to hiking. On the south bank lie the trails and country of Mt. Rainier National Park. This bridge provides the passage.

If the trail is followed northward, it quickly ends at Camp Sheppard, the Boy Scout Camp whose summer program was devoted entirely to training young men to lead young boys on week-long hikes and climbs in the mountains of Washington State. Only 20 miles from the summit of Mt. Rainier, this camp housed a program unique in the United States. It was built on a premise, the premise that if a challenge is provided, young men aged 15 to 20 will respond. Given reason, young men will work hard to learn skills, develop commeraderie, gain leadership experience and rise to accomplish whatever task need be completed. For nearly 20 summers, staffers at this camp fullfilled that premise. Entrusted with the lives of boys aged 11 to 15, the staff members of Camp Sheppard led them to the summits of Mt. Rainier, Mt. Baker, Mt. St. Helens, Mt. Adams, and Glacier Peak in week long expedition style climbs. They led boys on the trails and cross country routes of the Cascade Range on week-long hikes. They taught the skills and techniques necessary to scale the rocky summits of Shuksan, Ingalls, Stuart, Cowlitz, Little Tahoma and countless other peaks. It is a short distance from the summit of Rainier to the gates of Camp Sheppard, but it is a long way to conceive, establish and run a program that lets kids lead kids on the reverse path back up that mountain.

Camp Sheppard High Adventure Program began with the hiring of Max Eckenburg in 1963. Max, one of the original founders of Mountain Rescue, Explorer Search and Rescue, a draftsman at Boeing and a scout since age 11, brought to his assignment of Camp Ranger a wealth of experiences, ideas, dreams and most importantly, the drive to see them accomplished. Max is a soft spoken, intense man. He never raises his voice, perhaps because he is incapable. When the need of a yell to gain attention is called for, Max relies on his companion to issue the report. When he talks, his voice is soothing and rhythmic, lighthearted and warm. He uses his voice to full advantage, gaining trust and support for his ideas and programs with his sincere talk and honesty. As his close friend, Ome Diaber often said, “Watch out for Max, he could sell a marriage license to a nun.”
At 5’8’, Max is not a tall man, but his broad shoulders, barrel chest and muscular build speak of years of hard labor in the outdoors. In freighting materials to 9700’ on Mt. Rainier to build the Camp Sherman hut, Max made 103 trips, each with upwards of 65 pounds on his back. His upper body received similar workouts digging trail and hoisting beams. He walks in short strides with a swinging gate to his step, a pace he could maintain all day.
His thining light colored hair is worn short enough to comb easily, yet is always in a state of confusion. This confusion comes from always wearing a hat, either a beret in good weather, or a smokey the bear hat in inclement conditions. The constant readjustment of his hat squirrels his hair beneath. He loaths a hood on his coat, claiming it restricts his head movement, therefore the brimmed hat, for if there is one thing he dislikes more than a hood, it is cold rain water running down the back of his neck.
His hazel blue eyes smile warmly from under a high forehead. Max’s eyes dance with excitement under all conditions, but are exceptionally expressive when sharing his latest plans for a new program, or a new section of trail he hopes to build. And building trail is Max’s first love. Upon arrival to camp, the two most likely places to find Max are at his drafting table upstairs in the shop drawing up scale topographic maps depicting new trail locations, or out in the woods laying out those same trails.
Second only to building trail is Max’s love of a good fire and the companionship and conversation it brings. When the day’s work is finished and dinner is done, you will find Max seated in front of a roaring inferno in the camp lodge, sharing his latest plan for a wood heated olympic size pool or a gondola to the top of Mt. Rainier. A conversation with Max is more an indoctrination than a discussion of ideas. Using stories, examples and his own experiences, Max paints a picture of the world he is creating. Trails connecting camp to the Pacific Crest Trail, new two week climbing trips, “Alpines” to be started next summer, a pipeline carrying water from the base of the fall to camp, a new route up Mt. Rainier that offers more expedition style experience, a mouse proof room in the lodge to store food. There is no end to his ideas, dreams and passions. And while Max conceives these ideas, he utilizes his weekend volunteer work force to bring them to reality. “Work parties” from Seattle scout troops build trail, split cedar shakes and built lean-tos. Sea-beas from the navy installed and maintained a backup power generation station. Former staffers designed and built a 180’ suspension bridge across the raging White River. The ideas flowed from Max like the milky outpouring from the Emmons Glacier. There was no end to what could be accomplished, and Max made believers of all that fell within earshot of his persuasive, soft voice.

Camp Sheppard lies 500 yards east of Hwy 410, 29 miles east of Enumclaw in the White River watershed. A former CCC camp, its buildings are an assortment of 1930s vintage 18 man bunk houses moved from the Buck Creek airfield 2 miles up the road, furnace heated 20 man mountain houses built during the 60’s, a central lodge/kitchen built during the early 70’s and a ranger’s house overlooking the entrance road. The entrance gates, located 30 yards off Hwy 410 frame the escarpment, a 400 foot cliff that forms the backdrop of camp, overwhich pours Snoquara Creek. In the winter this waterfall becomes a mass of clinging crumbly ice, in the spring a roaring torent and in the late summer a trickle the wind can scatter so not a drop makes it to the base of the falls.
A loop of road about 1/2 mile long provides access to all the huts as they nestle in the second growth fir forest, each with their front porch facing the road. Each hut bears the name of a peak that rims the valley, Buck, Skookum, Sunrise. In the winter, Max plows the road with his forest green 1965 4 wheel drive Ford Pickup fitted with a yellow plow on the front. During heavy snows he has to plow continuously, for if the snow gets deeper than 4 or 5 inches the long straight stretches of road offer so much to plow the truck is unable to move the accumulated mass, even with chains on all four wheels.
The road must stay clear, for each weekend 200 to 300 kids occupy the huts. Food is delivered to the huts via the same forest green 65 Ford Pickup along the loop road. Three trips around the loop are required for each meal. First the cold boxes are dropped on each front porch. They contain the plastic forks, knives and spoons, the paper plates and bowls, napkins, milk, canned peaches, bread and butter. On the second pass the hot boxes come. In these are steaming cans of beef stew, thermoses of hot cocoa and cans of warm soapy water for cleaning up after the meal. About an hour after the cold boxes are delivered, the last pass is made. Now all the cold and hot boxes are retrieved, returned to the kitchen, cleaned out and prepared for the next meal.
In the summer the road serves as access to the cabins, but remains closed to automobile traffic. Adults park their cars in the gravel parking lot below the ranger’s house and the scouts pack their gear and supplies to the huts via the loop road. Their stay at camp is short. Greeted by staff members, scouts are led to a hut. Here a short orientation meeting is conducted by the Camp Sheppard staff member who will lead the hike or climb. Rules are explained, expectations are set, and questions are answered. Next, group gear is distributed among the group members. Tarps for shelter, #10 tins for cooking pots, axes, saws and rope are parceled out to each member. Food follows. Each food bag is the size of a well endowed sack lunch. A bag this size will feed four people for one meal. For a group of 12, 63 food bags must be distributed among the group, or about 5 each. This will feed the group for a week.
When all the food and gear has been distributed, the trip is ready to begin. A final tightening of boots, adjustment of packs and the party departs camp on one of many trails built to connect to the existing trails of either the Pacific Crest Trail System or Mt. Rainier National Park.