I’m proud to say that in my time as a Local Guide, my big accomplishments have been plotting and officially marking mountain climbing routes and landforms in the North Cascades, and updating a number of others with up-to-date route information and conditions.
The Ruth Mountain Climbers Trail and the Southern Picket Range Climbers Trail are my two big entries on my main account (I accidentally documented a route or two for some other local mountains on a different account, or I’d have one or two more to my credit here), alongside some smaller features like Crater Lake and Neve Peak in the Ross Lake area. On several other occasions, I have also been the first person to upload photos of a number of peaks in the North Cascades alpine region.
I’ve climbed Ruth Mountain twice, and always thought it strange that there’s Google Map points for hyper-specific items in cities and towns everywhere else, but trails up some of the best peaks in the North Cascades didn’t have a single mention.
Ruth Mountain is, I think, the second easiest glaciated peak in Washington to summit (Mount St Helens takes the number one spot here, since there’s little to no dirt scrambles or class 3 terrain to deal with at any point, and the glaciers are not extensive enough to merit crampons most of the season), and I felt that for aspiring mountaineers who don’t want to fork over a grand or more to be guided up Mount Baker or Rainier or some other big, serious volcano, Ruth Mountain serves as a friendly, worthwhile entry to mountain climbing, that can be done in a single day (back to back with Hannegan Peak, even, for those with robot endurance).
And in American climbing circles, the Pickets are legendary for their remoteness, ruggedness, and difficulty. I’ve had my eye on one or two Pickets Peaks for some time, and when I found a clear day to roll up and investigate the approach trail, I leaped at the opportunity, and began photographing every 30 feet of the entire approach trail for 5 miles, for future reference.
When I got home, I discovered that no one had marked the Pickets Trail yet either, and I felt like that was a shame, since that’s a range that deserves more attention from international climbing groups. It’s everything that is technical and majestic about the Alps, with all the remoteness of the Caucasus or Tien Shan.
So I dug deep into my photo archives and dug up everything I had, and tracked down the treads on Google Maps, and plotted their coordinates, and created fresh entries. And a few days later, Approved! Google marked them as acceptable, and now you can find them on the maps!
For a little backstory into why I do all this…
I’ve been climbing and hiking in the North Cascades since I was a kid, and as the years have passed, I’ve amassed thousands of photos, and traversed many trails so thoroughly I can walk half of them in my sleep. When I discovered Google Maps let users upload their own photos, and even add new locations, I knew I could finally put my encyclopedic knowledge of wilderness trails and mountain routes to good use.
The wilderness here is no trifling matter - European backpackers and out-of-state tourists periodically have to be rescued and carried out because they underestimated the ruggedness of the terrain, and the unpredictability of the weather here. The dangers are very real - but so are the payoffs, for those prepared and intrepid enough to manage travel in this distant and untamed land.
With my brother (a seasoned hiker and outdoorsman in his own right) in tow for many of these climbs, as my combination photographer and occasional porter (and rock-face route scout), I’ve ventured into high altitude terrain equipped with a Nikon DSLR and a Google Pixel XL phone, and covered as many paths as completely as possible, to relay info to future adventurous souls, and improve the safety profiles of many peaks in the region.
That’s not to say me and my partners always play it safe 100% of the time. More than once we’ve ventured above the clouds with little more than crampons and ice axes, and crossed our fingers.
But the payoffs for our gambles are always big, and worth every ounce of sweat!
And they make for some epic campfire stories later!
My eventual goal is to boost the popularity of the region - not only for helping the local economy by bolstering tourism, but also to raise awareness about the beauty and fragility of these ecosystems, and the importance of preserving them as wilderness for future generations.
So I invite you to come up and wander these misty paths with me.
Just remember to Leave No Trace…
…And bring plenty of water